UC Approves Referendum On Calendar Change

The Undergraduate Council passed a proposal for a College-wide referendum on calendar change yesterday, giving students a 48-hour period next week to vote on the UC-endorsed proposal for reorganization of the academic year.

The referendum—to be held from noon on Tuesday, April 17, to noon on Thursday, April 19—calls for a fall semester that will start earlier than the one currently in place and end prior to the winter holiday, allowing students to stay on break until late January.

The new configuration would also include a spring semester that would end before mid-May.

According to the UC Constitution, a referendum only has a binding effect on UC policy if it achieves a 25 percent turnout. But, said President Ryan A. Petersen ’08, every voter will be pursued.

“This affects every student, and I think it’s important that every student voice their opinion on the academic calendar,” he said.

Petersen later added, in a comment to Vice President Matthew L. Sundquist ’09, “We will not sleep until every undergraduate has voted.”

Several UC representatives, including Sundquist and Petersen, will go door-to-door to encourage students to vote, Sundquist said.

Petersen first announced his intentions to hold a referendum at Wednesday’s meeting of the Committee on Undergraduate Education.

Yesterday’s UC vote in favor of the referendum included only one dissenter, James W. Anderson ’09 of Adams House.