Flunk Day
Flunk Day is tomorrow.
Flunk Day is an annual event where, by surprise, all classes are canceled. A day's worth of carnival-like activities are planned.
Contents
Flunk days past and present
Flunk Day Activities
(main article: Flunk Day Activities)
There many traditional Flunk Day activities.
The day starts with the entire campus being waken by the Friars, a group of Seniors selected to start Flunk Day. In the morning, students enjoy a Mud Pit and Foam Pit to the sounds of a DJ. During the afternoon (usually after a nap) the lawn south of Seymour Hall has infaltable carnival games and karaoke. Some students also enjoy a bike ride to Lake Storey. At night, Union Board shows a movie on an outdoor movie screen, or brings in a live band to perform.
All meals are served outdoors on Flunk Day
Date
There is always speculation about the date of Flunk Day. Some people say the date moves depending on the weather or whether students already know it's Flunk Day. The logic behind this notion goes that if too many people know it's Flunk Day before the date, they will get drunk the night before and be more likely to get alcohol poisoning during the day.
This notion may just be an effect of the scare-letdown dynamic that the speculation creates for students. Some say that the date for Flunk Day is fixed from the beginning.
The E-mail
At some point during every spring term, Xavier Romano sends out an email with a list of safety precautions regarding the coming flunk day. This, or the email sent at around 5:45 on Flunk Day itself, may be referred to as the "Flunk Day email".
In 2006, the email was sent out the day before Flunk Day (some say to preeempt scares) leading to rumors in 2007 that Flunk Day would happen before the safety email was sent out.
The Hotline
If you don't have access to your email, you can also dial the flunk day hotline at 8008 to find out if it's Flunk day. This is not the most reliable source, however, as in both 2006 and 2007 the hotline had not changed its message by the time the campus was awoken.
Who knows about Flunk Day?
Union Board plans Flunk Day, and only select members of the board know the date. This year, one of those members in Sean Fors. But please don't pester him any more. He is not going to tell you.
Xavier Romano also knows when Flunk day is. But his wife Vicky does not. No she doesn't.
Scares
Most years there are one or more Flunk Day scares. Some scares are intentionally instigated and perpetuated by a student, or more commonly, a group of students. Some scares occur spontaneously, when a given date is widely rumored to be Flunk Day. Scares may be corroborated by a variety of evidence.
Lawn-mowing
This piece of evidence has been cited both ways. The grass being mowed the day before a candidate date has been cited as evidence as well as the grass not being mowed. Vicky Romano says they mow the grass every day, which would take care of at least half of this criterion.
The Mailroom
The night before Flunk Day 2006, Union Board stuffed student mailboxes early enough that students were able to discover the items before the mailroom closed. Some say precautions will be taken in the future, but lights on a closed mailroom have been cited as evidence on at least one occasion.
Friars
In past years, evidence of friars being picked up (a van driving around campus, sudden absence of seniors) has been cited. However, for 2007, friars will be alerted the morning of Flunk Day, eliminating this criterion.
Controversy
Flunk Day is the source of much controversy because many students get very drunk. Every year, somebody (or somebodies) gets hurt and goes to the hospital. Every year, people say that Flunk Day might get canceled. The rumor spreads easily because the injuries and alcohol use are a liability for the college.
However, Knox President Roger Taylor stated in an article in The Knox Student that only about 100 people drink excessively on Flunk Day.
He is almost definitely wrong. Or his understanding of what constitutes 'excessive' drinking goes well beyond even students' standards of inebriation.
