Annual Gentle Thursday, Friday to take place March 30-31; No classes planned
Central Michigan University students, faculty and staff will receive a mid-semester break from classes during Gentle Thursday and Friday on March 30 and 31.
This marks the second consecutive year the annual two-day break from classes will be held in the middle of the spring semester. Gentle Thursday and Friday originally took place the week before final exam week before CMU moved it up in the calendar.
Classes will take as normal on Wednesday, March 29, followed by no classes March 30-31. Students will return to campus Monday, April 3.
Gentle Thursday falls 17 days after students, faculty and staff returned to classes following a week-long spring break.
In 2013, the CMU Board of Trustees voted to move the break. The decision was made to concur with spring breaks for Gratiot-Isabella County schools, where some faculty members have children attending.
While some students at first believed the switch would affect their ability to study for finals, Ross said last year that it should not be a factor.
"I think (over) the course of a 16-week semester, hopefully, students would have studied three hours per hour in class each week throughout the semester," Ross said.
Macomb County junior Breanna Warner said she transferred from Macomb Community College and it didn’t have a designated break.
“I really like that we have two days off, I’m going to use them to spend time with family and catch up on homework,” Warner said. “I love that CMU offers these two days.”
