Spring Break Eliminated for Central Students
March 23, 2021
Last week should have been spring break for Central Connecticut State University students, but due to COVID-19, those days off were eliminated.
Central President Dr. Zulma R Toro sent out an email to students last September notifying everyone that spring break had been canceled.
“Some of you might believe that losing out on Spring Break is unfair,” the email stated. “Quite frankly, the pandemic has caused a great deal of disappointment for most of us, but we must make the best of things and do all we can to protect ourselves and one another. Limiting your exposure to COVID-19 during spring break is critical to keeping our campus community safe.”
Instead of having that time off, an extra week was instead added onto winter break.
Central senior Kiley Degrand was not pleased with the decision to cancel spring break due to Gov. Ned Lamont lifting covid-19 restrictions.
Passengers traveling out of the state are no longer required to provide a negative covid-19 test, or quarantine for 10 days upon returning to CT.
“The university made the call [to cancel spring break] when cases were at probably their highest and come this time for spring break a lot of people will be vaccinated. People have been traveling safely,” Degrand said.
John Tully, Central’s Vice President of Student Affairs, said the decision to cancel spring break was made at a system level and that those involved in the ruling were paying close attention to positive COVID-19 cases, which were higher in September.
According to Tully, more positive cases surged after last year’s spring break, resulting in the early decision.
“We saw from the spring break that happened just a few weeks into the pandemic in 2020 that when those students returned to their campuses or they returned home that we saw a spike in cases,” Tully said. “So we wanted to try and be sure that that didn’t happen.”
Tully said another factor in the early decision was ensuring students wouldn’t be left in any difficult financial situations. The university wanted to make the call as early as possible, so students wouldn’t make travel plans and be left with non-refundable plane tickets at the last minute.
Degrand, however, believes the early decision would not stop students from traveling. She also added that losing the week off could damage one’s well-being.
“I also think that the week in March is crucial for people’s mental health. They need that break,” Degrand said.
Tully said he is aware students may have traveled and campus residents were required to take a rapid COVID-19 test before returning to their dorms.
For more information on the cancelation, visit the link below.
