One of the best ways to promote a Christian lifestyle is to encourage the celebration of important days in the Christian tradition, and Good Friday is one of those. Hillsdale College was founded by Christians for the purpose of education, fulfilling the good life, and the Gospel. Therefore, the college administration should consider how to promote the Christian lifestyle in its academic calendar.
The most obvious of these holidays is Christmas, when we receive a month-long break between semesters. This time allows students to rest, refocus, and be able to worship without the overhanging sword of doom that is schoolwork. The same attention should be given to the Easter season.
Hillsdale gives its student body the Monday after Easter off for travel, but we only receive the second half of Good Friday itself off. Good Friday is the most solemn day of the year for Christians. Remembering the death of Jesus on the cross and the importance of that event is a profound and deeply important occasion to contemplate. The unfortunate fact is that having classes meet and assignments due detracts from students’ abilities to give it proper reverence. If students do decide to give it their attention, they will be penalized for missing classes or assignments that morning.
The solution to this is to give the entire day of Good Friday off.
Giving students Good Friday off would allow them to put away their books Thursday night and fully participate in the Easter celebration. By removing the necessity to attend class on Friday, the college would remove conflicting loyalties. Then, when classes resume on Tuesday, students can dive back into schoolwork, free of the constraints that the Easter season places on them.
So, all in all, not only would giving students Good Friday off be helpful to the pursuit of a well-ordered soul, but it would also help ensure a well-ordered transcript.
