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.

Scares & Speculation

Flunk Day 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.

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.

Confirming Flunk Day

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 woken up.

Flunk Day Activities

Main article: Flunk Day Activities

There are 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 inflatable carnival games and karaoke. In past years, some students have also enjoy a bike ride to Lake Storey, though this activity was missing from the Flunk Day 2007 schedule. At night, Union Board holds an outdoor event such as a movie on a projector screen, a live band, or a dance party.

All meals are served outdoors on Flunk Day.

Flunk Day Issue of The Knox Student

Main article: Flunk Day Issue 2007

Each year TKS comes out with a spoof issue of the newspaper. In 2005 and 2006, the spoof issue of the paper had not been produced yet so it was not in mailboxes the morning of as usual. In 2007, the paper was produced and printed well before May 8 and was drunkenly collected by many students. Controversy arose, however, due to the nature of the front page headline which read "Jesus Fucking Christ to speak at 2008 commencement." President Taylor, Xavier Romano, and Larry Breitborde called a meeting of the TKS editorial staff to discuss the issue. At the meeting Roger delivered a speech in which he expressed his thoughts. On the following day, he issued an email to the campus.

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.