Thursday game causes concern among students


On Thursday, some students face the unusual dilemma of having to choose whether to attend their classes or the football game against Washington, causing concern for both students and faculty.

In anticipation of this, and to accommodate the Thursday night game, the administration asked professors to consider rescheduling classes.

In an email to USC faculty and staff on Oct. 6, Provost Michael Quick made a series of suggestions to faculty, including rescheduling class for another time in the semester, holding class at another location or scheduling off-campus activities and work for Thursday.

“The University of Southern California is committed to minimizing the disruptions caused by weekday games,” Vice President of Student Affairs Ainsley Carry wrote in an email to students on Sept. 15. “We are taking steps to ensure students have access to academic facilities such as the libraries, parking, dining and tailgating alternatives off campus.”

Smrity Randhawa, professor of clinical accounting in the Marshall School of Business, said she was made aware of the potential conflict from the outset.

“Right when I was assigned the classes I was told, ‘This is going to be an issue. Yes, you can have the class, but attendance might be an issue in the class.’ So at that level, you try to address it proactively,” she said.

Randhawa rescheduled her Thursday class for an earlier date because of the game. She saw the Thursday football game as an opportunity to learn how to be more flexible as a professor.

“We work in a changing environment,” Randhawa said. “As faculty, we should have the foresight or the ability to be able to teach students using different mediums.”

However, Terek Rutherford, a freshman majoring in business administration, said having a Thursday evening class can sometimes create difficulties for students.

“It’s really unfortunate that the school puts students in a no-win situation, where they either go to class and are one of the few students there, so they get personal attention, which makes class more valuable — but if they do that, then they miss out on the game,” Rutherford said. “If they go to the game, obviously they have fun at the game, but then they miss out on the instruction they might have with their professor.”

Jessica Dillon, a senior majoring in public relations, said she wasn’t sure if rescheduling Thursday classes was the best course of action either, though.

“My professor seemed a little ambivalent about it but understanding that that’s our culture, and that we would just be sitting there hating life,” said Dillon, who had one of her classes cancelled. “It’s kind of weird to me, especially with those classes where I only meet with them twice a week. I really value the time I have with my professors, so it’s kind of a tossup.”

Rutherford said the situation was a catch-22.

“No matter which way they decide to go on game day on Thursday, they are caught in a situation which is going to make them lose in one aspect.” Rutherford said. “It forces them to choose between USC’s social life and USC’s academic life in a way that doesn’t happen in any other situation.”