Good Friday and college night overlap sparks ire among students

By Devan Sanka     4/15/25 10:07pm

Four college nights are happening on Good Friday this year. This overlap has caused controversy amongst students who observe the high holy day. 

Good Friday is the day immediately after the end of Lent and is often observed with fasting, prayer and church services. The day commemorates the crucifixion of Christ, and comes at a solemn time in the liturgical year.

In an anonymous public letter to Baker distributed around Baker commons, a student wrote that the “drunkenly jubilant” spirit of college nights is not only disrespectful to students observing Good Friday, but also an “offensive mockery.”

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While every residential college hosts their college nights differently, most include loud music, early morning drinking and celebrations throughout the day.

“We are not asking for everyone to go to Stations of the Cross or to join in prayer, we are simply requesting that this solemn day be treated as a non-collegewide party day for those who aren’t observing, which isn’t a big ask,” the letter read.

Last year, Beer Bike took place during Ramadan, an Islamic holy month that is usually observed with daytime fasting. The day is to be observed through fasting meditation, abstinence and prayer. 

In the same letter distributed at Baker, the student deemed Baker to be “the least Christian Friendly College,” in reference to the choice of the college night date.

“Some Christians feel like they are having to choose between [college night] – some of whom have been looking forward to their senior college night for years – and honoring their religion,” wrote Anne Kozlevchar, a Baker freshman, in an email to the Thresher. 

However, Baker senior Josie Feeney said that the Baker social chairs have been highly accommodating to Christians observing Good Friday. 

“For example, instead of having a party in Baker Commons at night, they’ve moved it to Pub,” Feeney said. “So essentially what they have done is they moved the noisy activities to different places.”

However, moving college nights to a different date is not as simple as it might seem, according to Taylor Schultz, the Duncan College president. 

“While student leaders work extremely hard to avoid scheduling events that conflict with sacred holidays, there are often event planning constraints and a myriad of factors that must be considered,” Schultz wrote in an email to Duncan College. 

Some of the conflicts detailed in the email included a college night ban April 11 due to admitted student programming. Schultz wrote that April 25 was also not a suitable date because it is the last day of classes.

With this in mind, Kozlevchar said she hopes administration will intervene to make scheduling around religious occurrences easier.

“I would like to see university administration allowing exemptions to have more college nights on a day to avoid such conflicts and religious awareness when approving dates for parties,” Kozlevchar wrote in an email to the Thresher.

In the collegewide email, Schultz outlined some of the accommodations being made for Good Friday, including reserving the private dining room and library as a quiet space and pausing activities in public spaces from noon to 3 p.m. “out of respect for those observing the Three Hours’ Devotion period of silence.”

To be considerate of those observing Good Friday, Feeney said college night participants should follow the instructions of the Social Chairs who are trying to create an accommodating environment.

“For any students who would like to honor Good Friday, I hope you can find the time and quiet space to reflect,” Kozlevchar said.

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