For most students at RPI, spring break is a fun filled week where, at the very least, they get to escape the Troy for a few days. Unfortunately, for a multitude of reasons, more than a few students are stuck on campus for this week of fun.
Everyone knows that on three-day weekends, the campus is nearly deserted. With a full week of no classes being held, there is barely a person to be seen.
This year, the students left on campus for the week were finally acknowledged. The Office of the First Year-Experience organized a trip to a restaurant in downtown Troy and even chipped in for some of the bill! The bookstore got into it and had an event too. Things like this made the week pass by a little faster for stranded residents.
Unfortunately, some efforts were conspicuously missing. The dining halls were still closed for the entire week—a long time to scrounge for food. If students were here because they didn’t have transportation to go somewhere else, they certainly don’t have cars to get to the grocery store. If others were here because they lack funding for a spring break vacation, it’s also unlikely they have money to pay the astronomical prices charged in the Union for an entire week’s supply of food.
In the future, it would be nice to see continued improvements in the same vein as the new events that occurred over spring break, starting with opening a dining hall or offering some other meal plan if that’s not feasible. Students who remain on campus over spring break should not suffer a drop in quality of living just because they can’t leave.
