Causing scheduling controversies months before it arrives, the Mifflin Street Block Party, currently set to take place May 7, could be problematic not only for UW-Madison students, but also for their professors.
Although the festivity is not a UW-Madison-sanctioned event, the university is still dedicated to its students' success and well being. UW-Madison Dean of Students Luoluo Hong said students should prioritize for the party weekend.
\Regardless of when this event is held in any given year, certainly every student is going to have to make choices about their priorities in terms of their academics and social life,"" she said. ""Regardless of when they choose to party, we always just hope they will make choices that minimize harm to themselves and to others.""
Hong said she did not believe the overlap between finals and the party had happened before, and that this semester's exam dates do not differ from their past schedules.
""I think we very much respect the difficult situation city police and city officials are in,"" Hong said. ""They are vested in holding a safe event for all people involved. ... We checked the calendar and finals aren't [earlier] this year.""
John Cook, lecturer in the UW-Madison Department of Hebrew Studies, has a final scheduled for May 8. He said he is aware of the long tradition of the Mifflin Street Block Party, but he expects his students to strike a healthy balance.
""As far as the students are concerned, they are adults and they have their own decisions to make,"" he said. ""As teachers we have our jobs to do and as students they have their priorities, but I guess I expect them to party as much as they want, but still be able to come in for the final and do well on the exam.""
UW-Madison History of Science Professor Michael Shank also has a final for one of his Integrated Liberal Studies courses on the Sunday after the proposed party date.
He agreed with Cook, but said he felt the students have a greater responsibility to their classes than to weekend partying.
""There are lots of hard decisions in life and you have to do whatever it takes, I guess,"" he said. ""In a sense there are all kinds of situations where you have to say, 'I'm committed to something else so I can't go there.' I see it as part of the hard choices one faces routinely when making decisions.""
Although no students have complained to Shank about the exam yet, he said he understood the situation and would bring up the subject in class.
""Sometimes you're dealt from the deck and you just have to deal with the hand you get,"" Shank said.
