Labor Day is now an instructional day in order to meet requirements for the number of instruction days needed in a semester. This change was due to COVID-19 according to a recent University of Wyoming press release.
“I think it is ironic but not surprising,” said Wyatt Bouma, a recent UW graduate from the History Department’s masters program. “It does not surprise me that the administration at UW would not care to celebrate the workers that keep the school running. The administration has a long history of not placing their workers as a top priority.”
Labor Day was a national holiday established by President Grover Cleveland in 1894 in order to celebrate the working class of America and their great achievements in making America a great industrial country. The rest of the world celebrates May Day, also called International Workers’ Day, on the first of May. However, President Cleveland did not like the socialist origins of the holiday and, therefore, created his own holiday to acknowledge the working people, said Bouma. We now celebrate Labor Day on the first Monday in September, this year falling on the seventh.
Establishing Labor Day as a national holiday followed a movement that was occurring during the 19th century in regards to the tough working conditions of the time. There were no health and safety agencies, no child labor laws, 12 to 16 hour daily shifts required 6 to 7 days a week, and strikes for better working conditions or better pay were considered illegal, said Renee Laegreid, a professor of history at UW.
“The holiday emerged during a very turbulent time, where there was labor unrest all across the country,” said Laegreid. “There were some states in the US that did have a celebration of sorts to honor workers, but those got folded into the national holiday in 1894.”
Laegreid has two classes this coming semester and has to revise her syllabi for those classes but said it is “no big deal.”
“I’m usually trying to get ahead a bit by preparing or refining lectures, and doing reading for my classes, so having Labor Day as an instructional day won’t impact my holiday tradition at all” said Laegreid.
If this change was for any other reason other than a nation wide pandemic then Laegreid would not be as optimistic as she is. These are strange times where everyone must stand together and show their Poke Pride in order to make this semester safe and successful, said Laegreid. She states that the UW administration is doing their best to open and keep open the university. She cannot think of another holiday that would be better to take as an instructional day to meet the required amount.
In regards to how this change affects students, it depends.
Trevor McClure, a student at UW, typically spends Labor Day weekend day drinking and hanging out with friends. This change simply takes away an extra day of relaxing in his situation but he still believes “it’s pretty stupid” to take away the holiday.
Deacon Schlichting, another student at UW, represents a large majority of students in regards to this change not affecting him at all. Schlichting typically does nothing for Labor Day but enjoy the day off. He only goes home for Christmas and winter break, like many students do, so plans are never made for Labor Day weekend for him due to home being a bit too far for the trip to be worth it.
However, some students are a bit upset because this change cuts into their hunting time. Early September is when a few small game hunting seasons, as well as others, open up including Dove and Partridge season.
Jordan Frantz, a student studying Architectural Engineering at UW, has an annual trip with his dad, and sometimes some family friends, to go Hungarian Partridge hunting. This season opens the first of September and has been a tradition for about seven years for Frantz.
Due to the university change, the annual trip will change depending on whether or not Frantz has in person classes or a large amount of work from his online classes preventing him from attending. The change would be that the trip would be a day shorter than usual or nonexistent.
“Labor Day is a federal holiday that I believe no school should have classes,” said Frantz. “If it were the case then why is there no school on Thanksgiving or Presidents’ Day the latter being another federal holiday?”
Frantz and Laegreid both are hopeful this is only a one time change for the university.
“Well, the COVID-19 pandemic really throws a monkey wrench into how things have traditionally been done–on campus and elsewhere! So, we have to roll with the punches,” said Laegreid.
