USM classes canceled due to a Thursday football game. Why some professors express dismay

A mid-semester decision to cancel classes one day later this month at the University of Southern Mississippi has some professors asking why the decision wasn't made earlier.

According to an email sent to faculty, staff and students the university has decided to close offices and cancel classes on Thursday, Oct. 27 due to an evening football game. The date of the contest has been publicly known since March 1.

The home game is scheduled between the Golden Eagles and the Ragin’ Cajuns from the University of Louisiana. Kickoff time is 6:30 p.m. at M.M. Roberts Stadium.

“With increased visitors, media and parking demands throughout the day, maintaining normal class schedules and operations is not possible,” the e-mail stated in part.

Jeremy Scott, who teaches in the School of Mathematics and Natural Sciences and serves as president of the USM chapter of the American Association of University Professors, says the cancellation affects classroom instruction in many different ways.

“I had already scheduled an exam for that day, and I wouldn’t want students to miss an exam for football,” he said.

Other faculty members and classes will be more adversely affected, he said. “For example, in chemistry and physics when you have scheduled lab work you often can’t just shut down a lab for a day. It shuts down the lab for a whole week,” Scott said.

And in other cases, he said professors had already arranged for special speakers and guests to appear before their classes that day — some of whom were being paid through grants.

“I think the overall opinion among faculty is that once the university has made an academic calendar they should stick to it,” Scott said.

Still, Scott acknowledged that having a football game on a weekday could make it difficult for some students living off campus to make it to class on time. “We are already pretty taxed on our parking,” he said.

The Office of the Provost has subsequently pledged to assist faculty whose classes will be adversely affected by the closure in any way they can, Scott said.

A university spokesperson said the decision to cancel classes was not taken "lightly or eagerly," and that all aspects of the Southern Miss experience were taken into account before making the announcement.

"In this case, the ability to safely and successfully execute a highly complex operation for tens of thousands of Southern Miss stakeholders requires the University to deviate from its regular schedule," the spokesperson said via email.

The all-day closure will also affect USM’s Gulf Coast campus.

“All classes will be cancelled and will not meet in person or online. Game day personnel should report to work as normal. All other offices and operations will be closed for the entire day at all University of Southern Mississippi locations in Hattiesburg and on the Gulf Coast,” the announcement reads.

Students, faculty, staff, alumni and guests are invited to take part in a variety of activities to cheer the Golden Eagles on to victory, including tailgating, Eagle Walk and a special performance by Grits and Greens, a local Southern rock band, to be held at Southern Station in Spirit Park prior to the game.

Fans are encouraged to wear black for this designated “Lights Out” game, and the Division of Student Affairs will host special game day activities for students.

The game will be broadcast by ESPN2.

Hattiesburg American sports writer David Eckert contributed to this report.

This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: USM cancels classes due to a Thursday football game on campus