Instructional days, wellness days, and other small breaks are replacing the traditional spring break at colleges and universities this school year.
Ohio State University announced the cancelation of their spring break during fall semester. Instead, students will have instructional two-day breaks spread throughout the middle of the spring semester.
Miami University and Ohio University are following similar plans. The two universities are calling small breaks wellness days which will allow students to have a long weekend during spring semester.
Students said they’re not surprised breaks are being changed as a response to the COVID pandemic. Columbus native and freshman at Oberlin College Darius Butler said last year his plans were the same, to keep safe at home.
“I just stayed at my house. I have an underlying condition which makes me a higher risk for getting COVID, so I was very diligent about staying indoors,” Butler said.
Butler is continuing his basketball career at Oberlin and said through his grade school years, spent much of his spring breaks traveling to basketball games. While that’s not the case this year, he said he and other students he knows are not planning to do any traveling unless it’s to go home.
“I know friends from other schools that are going places but if people are going anywhere, they’re just going back home. They’re not going to Florida or South Carolina, Hilton Head, and places that are busy. A lot of people are just going home to see family,” Butler said.
Oberlin is among the colleges which have changed spring break plans. They’ll give students two days off Monday, March 22, and Tuesday, March 23. Butler said the college is also advising students not to leave the greater Cleveland area or they will have to quarantine.
Ohio Dominican University school leaders made the decision to move spring break to the week of March 29 through April 5. Leaders there said the change will allow students to have a break but eliminate the instance of students leaving and returning to campus.
Capitol University also moved forward with a spring break for students which took place February 27 through March seventh. Students were given several guidelines to follow including those living in residence halls have to test negative before returning to student housing.