Higher education is not valued
equally in the various American states. Where academia is not particularly
valued, other things can intercede as priorities even at the universities
themselves at the expense of academics. In such places, even the universities
themselves may value being academic institutions too little by allowing other societal agendas to eclipse the distinctly academic mission. Indeed, even academic administrators may be infected with an ideology currently in fashion societally, and insufficiently academically minded to thwart the interlarded
non-academic values that seek hegemony even on academic campuses.
The value that a university
places on its academic classes as a priority can be gauged by whether classes meet
on minor holidays. Even if the length of the semester is not shorted as a
result, breaking up contiguous class days may have negative academic effects.
My point here, however, is that cancelling classes for minor reasons
demonstrates a lack of respect for the academic functioning of universities as
regards teaching and learning course material.
In 2019 at Yale, classes met
on Columbus Day, Veterans Day, and Presidents Day even if administrative
offices were closed. Harvard’s academic calendar explicitly stated that classes
would meet on Veterans Day and President’s Day (Columbus Day being the exception
among the minor holidays for the academic year). Classes are different; they
are too important to be interrupted for every minor holiday. Yet those very academic universities have not been above cancelling classes on a minor holiday, and for ideological reasons. Martin Luther King's day is a case in point.
Out in the provinces, Arizona’s
major universities cancel classes for Veteran’s Day, perhaps out of
deference to the military-industrial presence in the state. The privileging of
that holiday is all the more conspicuous because Columbus Day is practically
ignored, perhaps owing to the numbr of American Indians in Arizona. In
fact, no mention was made of that holiday in the 2019-2020 academic calendars
of the University of Arizona and Arizona State University—the latter having
Fall Break instead on the Monday and Tuesday.
The cultural differentials
between New England and Arizona cannot be ignored; they are essentially different countries. In 2017, Arizona teachers came
in last in the U.S., and, moreover, K-12 (pre-college education) had consistently
came in at 48th or 49th out of the 50 States for years. In an
analysis by WalletHub, Arizona’s pre-college education came in at 49th
out of the 50 States, whereas Massachusetts and Connecticut came in at first and third, respectively.[1]
Including standardized tests such as the SAT gave the interstate comparison
particular credence. Besides having a high drop-out rate at the high-school
level, Arizona had a high drop-out rate at ASU and likely at the University of
Arizona too given the low standardized entrance exam scores. We can conclude
that education was valued much more in New England than in Arizona.
I contend that ideology had come to play an outsided role not only in the creation of new national holidays in the U.S., but also in how much in a given state closes for a holiday. For example, not allowing classes to meet even at the public universities on Veterans Day in Arizona is a way of instilling the value of a military to young adults, many of whom could be expected to vote in line with what they believe is important. Businesses and the government of Arizona there doubtlessly benefitted by more money for military contractors.
The role of ideology in deciding which minor holidays on which to cancel classes also infects the Ivy League universities. Even though the value of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln far surpasses that of Martin King for the U.S., the elite schools have not have classes on King's day but have had classes on President's Day (and Veterans Day). The picking and choosing among holidays that are all minor rather than one of the majors, such as Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's, and Independence Day, points to the involvement of ideology. I would expect all of the minor holidays to be insufficient in cancelling classes. The privileging of some such holidays over others is just not fair. I contend that interrupting the rhythem of a semester and sending the message that academics is not the highest value at a university, especially if the university is a citidel in protecting the value of academic knowledge, are not wise.
