IU students gather 10,000 signatures supporting the reinstatement of fall and spring break

BLOOMINGTON – More than 10,000 Indiana University Bloomington students have signed an online petition demanding the university’s Board of Trustees to reinstate Fall and Spring Break for the next academic year.

The petition’s sponsors, Indiana University juniors Dorynn Mentor and Carling Louden, say it is a direct response to a February letter by Indiana University President Michael McRobbie to students that announced that the state’s flagship university would “return to mostly normal operations” in the fall.

In the letter, McRobbie added that the traditional fall break in mid-October would be canceled.

Dorynn Mentor

“Fall and Spring Break are both important parts of campus life and as we have learned through the pandemic, they are vital to the mental health of students,” Mentor said. “Whether students take these days to travel, visit family, relax, or study, we believe these opportunities must be restored.”

With the rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine well underway, college-age students are likely to have access to the vaccine prior to the fall semester.

Mentor and Louden believe that, with the vaccine, fall and spring breaks can be conducted safely by students.

Carling Louden

“With the now promising news of vaccines being available for all students later this spring, we are confident that these breaks can be done safely,” Louden said. “We strongly believe that the loss of traditional breaks had a significant impact on student health and campus life this year and we want to fix that.”