Despite scheduling classes on Veterans’ Day, Boston University should not be seen as an unpatriotic university, administrators and ROTC officials said Monday.
However, CAS sophomore and Army Reserve Officers’ Training Corps cadet Patrick Vincent said he still thinks BU should cancel classes.
‘I wish BU would honor Veterans’ Day,’ Vincent said. ‘I feel it’s a slap in the face to our veterans.’
But BU spokesman Colin Riley said students can still honor veterans, even though they will attend classes today.
‘A day away from classes isn’t required to acknowledge the sacrifices made by our veterans,’ Riley said. ‘The university respects greatly the contributions of our veterans. We know firsthand the sacrifices the veterans have made.’
Riley said educational concerns remain at the forefront for scheduling BU’s academic calendar, along with attempts to maximize the amount of class time per semester.
BU also sets the calendar with regard to students’ travel needs during the holidays, Riley said, giving them a travel day the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. The extra day is especially useful for students from out of state more than 80 percent of students and many nearby colleges do not offer it, Riley added.
Physics professor William J. Skocpol, a former Faculty Council chair, said the current calendar is already a compromise.
‘The university calendar is established several years in advance and involves negotiations among several different groups,’ Skocpol said in an email, adding that getting Veterans’ Day off would require significant sacrifices.
‘I would only support adding a Veterans’ Day holiday if students would support a calendar that includes at least one Saturday where classes are held to make up the missing day that week. Duh. As if,’ he said.
College of Arts and Sciences junior and BU College Republicans President Andrew Trznadel said he thinks the university should observe the holiday.
‘I think it’s absurd that we don’t have it off,’ Trznadel said. ‘Our veterans paid a huge price for us. I think one day of reflection on that is the least we can do for them.’
CAS junior Peter True, the BU College Democrats Secretary agreed, saying he was personally unsure of the reason to hold classes.
At 1 p.m., the American Legion’s parade to celebrate the holiday will kick off near the Public Gardens on Commonwealth Avenue.
BU will hold a Veterans’ Day vigil, a 24-hour event that began at 4 p.m. Monday and involves all three branches of ROTC the Army, Air Force and Navy. The vigil will culminate in a public service scheduled for 4 p.m. today.
‘I’m proud to serve in the Veterans’ Day vigil because I know it’s a cliché freedom isn’t free,’ Vincent said.
But regardless of whether or not BU gave the day off, ‘I don’t think the majority of BU students [would] even bother’ to honor it, CAS junior Andy Stream said.
‘Veterans’ Day is an important holiday that many Americans do not fully appreciate,’ Stream said.
CAS junior Mike Penterson said students need the day off to full observe the holiday.
‘Growing up, I always just thought of it as a day off from school, which isn’t what the day is about,’ Peterson said. ‘I think that if they want us to observe the day, we should have the day off to actually observe it. Otherwise, don’t say that we should observe Veterans’ Day and then have it just be like any other day of the year.’
Though he did not comment on the university’s specific policy regarding Veterans’ Day, Lt. Col. Morton Orlov commander of the BU Army ROTC attachment said, ‘The university does support us.’
And as for students’ complaints, Orlov said he hadn’t ‘heard of the demand’ for a day off, especially among those in ROTC.
‘The interest [for ROTC] is not in having a vacation’ but in supporting the veterans, most immediately and publicly through the vigil, he said.
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