By Taylor Popielarz

It has been seven years since the Quinnipiac community officially celebrated May Weekend.

“There were actually two different weekends,” said chief of public safety David Barger. “There was the official May Weekend, which was a great deal of programming done by the office of student life, and then there was the ‘Unofficial May Weekend.’ Those were the activities that certainly added to not having a May Weekend anymore.”

Quinnipiac officials cancelled May Weekend in 2007 after a series of arrests and student deaths prompted administrators to take a second look at the tradition.

Quinnipiac’s Associate Vice President for Public Relations, John Morgan, wrote the following in an email to Q30 News: “The university discontinued May Weekend in 2007 because it had become inconsistent with our core values of providing high quality academic programs, a student-focused environment and a strong sense of community.”

Though the university no longer recognizes May Weekend, if you ask around campus, nearly every student still considers it to be a “holiday” to wrap the year up.

“For me, May Weekend is a weekend where students kind of relax and socialize more so than other weekends,” said junior Aaron King.

Something many students take note of though, is the Office of Residential Life and Department of Public Safety’s presence during the last weekend in April. Dozens of officers and resident assistants are on call throughout the weekend, in greater amounts as compared to any other weekend on campus.

“I think [Residential Life and Public Safety] should just realize that it’s a weekend that students have fun,” said King.

In a statement to Q30 News, Jennifer Crane, who is the director of Residential Life, stated that, “This weekend there are more staff, public safety and student health services to be proactive in keeping community safe.”

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