Christina Domenico | Class and Hey Day don't mix

I'm ready to march my way into senior year in four days.

And I'm going to - thanks to the saving grace of my Spanish professor. But many juniors aren't so lucky.

Due to a change in the academic calendar and thanks to a 2006 decision by the Council of Undergraduate Deans, Hey Day - traditionally held on the last day of classes - falls on a Tuesday this year. And many of my fellow juniors have exams and presentations during the annual class picnic and procession through campus.

Which has left some students in quite the pickle - do I attend class and miss Hey Day, or do I let my grade suffer as I parade through campus?

It's not an easy decision - nor one anyone should have to make. While fulfilling academic obligations is the primary purpose of attending college, Hey Day - perhaps the most beloved of all Penn traditions - carries such significance in an undergraduate's career that a Penn education can seem incomplete without it.

After our predecessors preserved the right to celebrate Hey Day last year, we should be able to do so without fear of academic punishment.

College junior Cecilia Vogel echoes this concern, saying, "I don't want to be penalized heavily for skipping class on the last day after a whole semester of work because teachers know it's Hey Day."

Unlike Friday, when classes virtually don't exist, Tuesdays are often students' busiest days. Though many professors - certainly not all - may be willing to move or cancel a class in order to accommodate the march, that's not always plausible.

Last week, the University, rather than altering the schedule for Hey Day in order to help the junior class out, decided to keep the same schedule as years past.

As Junior Class Board President Brett Perlmutter explained, moving the date or time of Hey Day isn't that simple.

For one, Hey Day has always been the last day of classes and can't be pushed into Reading Days. Pushing the events back later in the day is out, as well. Since the police can't block traffic during the evening rush hour, Perlmutter said "there wouldn't be a procession if we moved it after because we couldn't cross Walnut Street."

While the latter option is truly impossible, pushing Hey Day to the first day of Reading Days - while currently against University policy - is the most viable solution. Of course, part of the tradition would be sacrificed, but that's already happening this year since many juniors won't be participating.

Perlmutter said the Class Board began planning Hey Day during the fall semester. Because of the event's importance, the group and administrators should have addressed the issue back then, rather than leaving it to juniors to deal with the problem now.

As Vogel pointed out, "Hey Day is a long-standing Penn tradition. It only comes around once in your Penn career. People go abroad in the fall to be here for it."

The University and the Sophomore Class Board need to figure out a solution for next year's event. It's the least they can do, since guaranteeing a happy Hey Day for the current class has fallen to pieces.

But if there's any possible solution to this year's dilemma, the University should take any and all possible steps. The junior class didn't expect to miss out on Hey Day, and current conflicts shouldn't exclude so many students from enjoying this rite of passage.

Our last true moment as Penn juniors should be on the Green, united in red shirts and bitten styrofoam hats - not listening to our friends do so from inside a classroom.

Christina Domenico is a College junior from North Wildwood, N.J. Her e-mail is domenico@dailypennsylvanian.com. The Undersized Undergrad appears on Fridays.

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.