Gonzaga officials to fans hoping for no school Friday: sorry, not going to happen
So much for “Fan Friday.”
Classes will go on as scheduled at Gonzaga University to the dismay of students and other fans hoping to skip town and head to Phoenix to watch the Bulldogs play in the Final Four.
“The university is not able to cancel classes,” Gonzaga’s vice president for academics, Patricia O’Connell Killen, said in a statement emailed to the student body on Monday.
O’Connell Killen indicated school officials had received “a number of inquiries about whether the university will cancel classes around this coming weekend” from students planning trips to Phoenix in anticipation of Saturday’s game against South Carolina.
But Gonzaga is beholden to U.S. Education Department standards that dictate how many hours of instruction must take place each semester, she said.
One student, 28-year-old senior Sean Bulger, hoped classes would be canceled “in observation of such a big event in school’s history” but said he planned to fly to Phoenix regardless.
“I was definitely going to go either way,” he said. “I always kind of told myself, since I was a little kid, that if this ever happened that I was going to do anything in my power to see it.”
As of Tuesday evening, nearly 1,500 others had signed a change.org petition urging Gonzaga President Thayne McCulloh to cancel Friday’s classes.
Gonzaga senior Sean Palermo, who created the petition, wrote that Bulldog fans have “a very strong desire to make the 20+ hour drive to Phoenix” but can’t because of classes or airline costs or both.
“Many students who are willing to make this trip are being forced to stay home instead of supporting our team,” the petition reads. “We want the Zag spirit to be able to fire up the University of Phoenix Stadium and keep it rolling till we bring home a national championship.”
O’Connell Killen said in her statement that “there are many students who are choosing to make the trip to Phoenix and many more who would love to go, but cannot, due to cost, work, and other limitations.”
As an alternative, she recommended students attend viewing parties planned at the Hemmingson Center and the nearby Garland Theater, which had no empty seats when it screened Saturday’s game against Xavier University.
Although it may come as a surprise to diehard fans, not every student is pushing for a three-day weekend.
Abigail Williams, a junior, is the vice president of Gonzaga’s Japanese club and a casual-at-best basketball fan. She’s planning a club event spanning several days at the end of the week. But most of the club’s members, including the president, are planning to watch the game instead, either in person or on TV, she said.
Williams expects campus to look like a ghost town on Friday.
“I’ve talked to a lot of people,” she said, “and a lot of people are leaving.”
Some students were mildly disappointed by the decision not to cancel classes but resolved to stay focused on academics – perhaps to the satisfaction of Gonzaga administrators.
Daniel Rosales, a sophomore studying civil engineering, was poring over a physics textbook Tuesday afternoon in a lounge in the Hemmingson Center. Canceled classes would be a godsend, he said.
“I have a test on Friday, so it would be nice.”