According to that same article, the college paused all campus activity on Labor Day before 2000. Then, between 2000 and 2009, there were occasional years when the college closed all activity, or at least administrative offices. But Péwé said they no longer close business offices because they do not like having staff away from campus while students remain.
“That way you have all your security and all your administrators here,” Péwé said. “If something were to go wrong, God forbid, you don’t want them to be up north on a day off.”
To compensate for Labor Day, the college staff receives two days off for Independence Day.
Hillsdale is not alone in remaining open on Labor Day. According to a study by Bloomberg BNA in 2015, about 41% of organizations require at least some employees to work on the holiday. Last year CNN reported that stores, movie theaters, zoos, malls, and even some national parks stay open.
Many people think of Labor Day as the last hurrah of summer. But what does it seek to honor and where did it come from?
The idea was initiated by socialist labor activists in 1882. On Sept. 5, 1882, union leaders in New York City organized a parade that is now considered the first Labor Day celebration. Five years later, on Feb. 21, 1887, the holiday was first officially recognized by the state of Oregon.
On June 28, 1894, after widespread adoption of the holiday, Congress declared the first Monday in September of each year the legal holiday known as Labor Day. According to National Geographic, the bill sat untouched in the U.S. Senate for the previous 10 months, but was quickly approved in June when a railroad car workers’ strike was crippling national rail traffic.
Paul Moreno, dean of social sciences and professor of history, said he is not fond of the holiday’s roots.
“I’ve always been a little suspicious of it, because it was associated with the left-wing labor movement,” Moreno said. “My understanding was it was made a holiday as a way of placating working-class discontent by domesticating it and giving everyone a day off.”
Moreno acknowledged that a lot of students are probably used to parents getting the day off for the national holiday, but added that he is glad Hillsdale does not take the day off because it is untimely for the academic schedule.
“We can’t afford to take any more time out of the semester, and it’s really inconvenient to have a day off right when the semester starts, especially for freshmen,” Moreno said. “After all the orientation activities, they’re eager to get doing the thing they came here to do, and so to stumble in that way, to delay it, would be irritating.”