The University’s decision to cancel classes from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. today reflects a compromise between the challenge to continue regular course schedules and to allow participation in today’s inauguration ceremonies. The University is not the only higher education institution facing these schedule challenges; some colleges and universities had to determine whether inauguration would affect exam schedules.
At Harvard University, for example, a revised schedule of exams will continue today despite some students’ protests.
Harvard sophomore Jason Shah created an online petition and Facebook group “Petition for Make-Ups of Harvard College Exams on Inauguration Day 2009.” The petition proposed to allow students to take exams Sunday before today’s inauguration or offer students the opportunity to do alternative projects instead of a traditional in-class exam, Shah said.
Although about 600 people signed the online petition and almost 300 joined the Facebook group, Shah said the efforts were ultimately unsuccessful because administrative officials did not allow the requested alternatives.
Instead, exams originally scheduled to begin at 9:15 a.m. Jan. 20 will start at 8:30 a.m. Harvard students who have a three-hour exam in the morning will be able to watch the noon swearing-in ceremony, said Robert Mitchell, Harvard director of communications for the Faculty of Arts and Sciences.
The slight schedule change, however, did not satisfy Shah.
“It’s not an agreeable compromise, because people who want to travel can’t,” Shah said.
Some professors, however, tried to avoid scheduling exams for today and chose earlier exam date changes when possible, Shah said. A class titled “The American Presidency,” for example, had its exam moved to an earlier date. Some schedule changes, however, were ultimately restricted by Registrar guidelines.
Harvard is not the only university to proceed with final exams today. Exams will continue as normal for students at Princeton University, Media Officer Emily Aronson said, with three-hour tests scheduled for 9 a.m., 1:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.
Virginia Tech and Virginia Commonwealth University, while not holding final exams today, will also operate on normal schedules. Some other colleges and universities, such as Cornell University and Yale University, will hold screenings of the inauguration events but continue with classes.
Students at Washington D.C. schools, meanwhile, including Georgetown University, American University and George Washington University, will have the day off as officials predict crowds of up to two million people will crowd the nation’s capital.
—Katherine Raichlen contributed to this article
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