Rodin recommends that U. stay closed on MLK Day

Various officials will have to review the proposal to cancel classes for King's birthday. Classrooms at Harvard University were empty yesterday in observance of Martin Luther King Day. Brown and Columbia universities were closed to mark the holiday as well. But at Penn, it was business as usual as students made their way to their first classes of the semester. However, if University President Judith Rodin gets her way, next year Penn professors will not hold class on Martin Luther King Day -- a proposal that has garnered support from many student leaders, faculty and staff. At a breakfast sponsored by University minority groups to honor the civil rights leader's legacy, Rodin announced that she will ask Penn's academic leadership to make King's birthday an official school holiday. "There is much more that we can do as individuals, as neighbors, as a University to push Dr. King's vision," Rodin said to the more than 100 in attendance at DuBois College House. "I am going to ask the Faculty University Planning Committee, [which] is responsible for developing the University calendar, to make Dr. King's birthday a University holiday," she added, eliciting a loud burst of applause from the crowd. Later in the day, Rodin repeated the announcement at a luncheon attended by members of the African-American Association of Administrators, Faculty and Staff, where she received a similarly favorable response. Although Rodin said she anticipates favorable support from Penn's academic leadership, University spokesman Ken Wildes noted that the proposal must also be reviewed by the University Secretary's office for compliance with Penn's bylaws and discussed with University Trustees. The University's academic calendar is typically set five years in advance. If approved, the holiday would be Penn's only three-day weekend of the year. United Minorities Council President Jerome Byam said he remained "cautiously optimistic" about Rodin's announcement. "I really commend the President for making such a move. It's about time," the College junior said. But he added that Rodin "only said she would recommend it; it hasn't been implemented and nothing has been set in stone." Rodin's decision to support making Martin Luther King Day an official school holiday marks a major shift in the University's attitude toward celebrating the occasion. Although the University's current policy allows students to miss class to observe King's birthday without academic penalty, the University has officially remained open. Sponsoring a series of events and engaging in meaningful classroom discussion, University officials argued, was the appropriate way to honor an ardent supporter of education like King. However, while many activities honoring King were scheduled during the morning and evening, some students and faculty complained that class conflicts with events did not enable them to fully participate in the celebration. "It is a very appropriate step to celebrate the legacy of Dr. King by canceling class like virtually every other university does and allow students to take full advantage of programs," said Undergraduate Assembly Chairperson Michael Silver, a College senior, who said he believed attendance at yesterday's events was hurt by student concerns over missing the first day of classes. "The UA collaborating with the United Minorities Council and minority umbrella groups will definitely push to make sure that students will not have class on Martin Luther King Day, " he said. Added College senior Richard Adzei, a member of the Martin Luther King Executive Planning Committee: "I've waited four years and I'm so happy to hear that the University's finally going to recognize this day." Peer institutions like Harvard, Columbia and Brown all cancelled classes for MLK day. Dartmouth altered its schedule so that most classes did not meet. And Princeton and Yale, like Penn, remained open.

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