Last April the Le Moyne community received an email from Vice President of Student Development Deb Cady Melzer stating that undergraduate classes would be cancelled in celebration of Dolphy Day. In an email to The Dolphin she wrote that a small committee of faculty, students and staff decided to cancel classes. “It was the recommendation of several on that committee and throughout the community that we cancel classes.  I shared this with our Provost, Dr. Brockelman and together we decided to cancel classes this year on a trial basis,” said Melzer.

This year Le Moyne will not get the same luxury, as it has been decided classes will not be cancelled on Dolphy Day. In an email to faculty the Provost Office explained that classes cannot be cancelled because of liability issues.

Here is an excerpt from the email:

“A recent meeting about legal compliance issues has made clear that, due to liability, Le Moyne College can NOT cancel classes for either all undergraduate or graduate students. As was the case before last year, individual instructors may make arrangements with their classes for the day on the expectation of low attendance.”

A formal statement has yet to be released to the rest of the Le Moyne community.  The Dolphin reached out to Melzer for a comment, but has yet to hear from Student Development.

When students were asked about classes not being cancelled this year, not many seemed bothered by the idea. “I think part of the fun is knowing we technically have class, but also knowing that basically the whole class won’t be there,” said senior Kara Duh. “When the college officially cancels classes the excitement is kind of taken out of it.”

It is common for students to drink during the Dolphy Day festivities, but there is still a section of the Le Moyne community that chooses not to be a part of that. For those people, Student Development is working with the Student Government Association [SGA] to provide education and alternative programming to students.

“SGA has been working on creating a student section for Dolphy Day. Our freshmen representatives have created a list of activities for Dolphy Day. Activities such as Quittage, tug of war, Kan Jam, corn hole, etc.,” said SGA President Morgan Baker.

It is unclear what the exact liability issues are, but Dolphy Day has been a frequent debate among Le Moyne faculty and students. That debate reached a high point last year when classes were formally cancelled for the first time in honor of Dolphy Day on April 16. The next morning, alleged sexual misconduct incidents were reported in the wake of the celebration. The alleged perpetrator was removed from campus last spring and President Linda LeMura said Le Moyne was following well-designed procedures in response to all reported alleged incidents of misconduct.

 
These events haven’t stopped the Le Moyne community from preparing for the highly anticipated day. In preparation for Dolphy Day, which usually happens within the first two weeks of April, the senior class has set up a GoFundMe page for friends and alumni to donate to. So far, the page raised $290 in six days. The goal is to reach $600.