TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) — It's a first of its kind, no Spring Break for college students in Tallahassee.
Florida State and Florida A&M University announced they will are canceling the 2021 Spring Break due to the coronavirus pandemic.
It was a shock to some students.
"We kind of need that so we can regroup and get back in focus, especially for finals," said John Horton, a student at FAMU. "If they want to take their own personal spring break I bet they can do that."
Although this is not what they planned, with the recent spike in cases ages 18 to 24-year-olds they don't want to take the chance.
FAMU provost Maurice Edington says this decision was made after watching other University's issues following Spring Break last year.
"Some of the institutions in our state and around the nation, they had just come off Spring Break right when we were starting to feel the impact and in some cases, students came back infected," said Edington.
Both universities are urging students to attend all classes during what would have been their scheduled week for Spring Break. There are no serious consequences for not attending but FAMU says they will be marked absent and those absences total up.
FAMu and FSU say this is in the best interest of their student population, reducing the possibility of them bringing something back after traveling over Spring Break.
"In terms of the calendar, there is no break during the semester, the faculty will continue to teach," said Edington.
As a result of this cancellation, both FSU and FAMU will end the spring semester a week earlier.
When students return for the spring semester on January 6, they must work remotely for three days, meaning no one will be on campus.
"I just think that's something, in the long run, is the best decision," said Briana Sandoval, an FSU student.
Despite no Spring Break, FAMU says they are trusting their students to do the right thing and show up to class.
Once students leave for Thanksgiving break when they return they will be fully remote for finals week and won't return to physical classrooms until January 11.
