In a normal year, Tulane would rapidly be approaching the mid semester spring break. As a protective measure against COVID-19 spreading throughout the New Orleans community, Tulane administration replaced Spring break with Lagniappe Days, administration designated days off from classroom instruction. The Hullabaloo asked students for their perspective on how this structure has felt in comparison to the usual formal of the semester. 

Julia Bogart, freshman

Preference: spring break

Why: Teachers still end up giving out long term assignments over lagniappe days so instead of having the day to completely relax, it just ends up being a day to catch up on homework (minus having actual classes).

Francie Benjamin, sophomore

Preference: spring break

Why: Spring Break is supposed to be a time to mentally decompress and not have any work to do and hang out with friends and family. Most students I know spend the lagniappe days catching up on work, which is not detracting from the burnout we’re feeling.

Megan Spillman, senior

Preference: spring break

Why: The lagniappe days were not really breaks. We were still assigned homework like normal and it only served as a catch-up day for professors to assign work in classes that we were behind in. Honestly, I would be thrown off for the rest of the week following a lagniappe day and it just became more stress than a break. You can’t truly unwind in one day even if you weren’t assigned work and I just wasn’t a fan personally.

Cassidy Norris, sophomore

Preference: spring break

Why: Lagniappe days are not even break days, they are basically us playing catch-up with our school work since there are no breaks. They are awful for mental health. I know Tulane doesn’t want us to travel, but students do it anyways, so might as well have a REAL break.

Aaron Avidon, senior

Preference: spring break

Why: Lagniappe Days, while nice in their temporality, don’t even come close to reaching the sigh of relief we as students get for spring break. With all the trauma and stress of this past year, the process of being a student has drastically changed, and whether we’re aware of it or not, our mental states have all been altered. Getting rid of spring break is not only disrespectful to the students and faculty of Tulane, but shows a blatant lack of care for the mental health of anyone and everyone on Tulane’s campus.

Ava Levine, sophomore

Preference: spring break

Why: Lagniappe days are anything but a break. Often given in the middle of the week, it’s impossible to put off impending assignments and enjoy myself like I can when the university gives designated time for both students and professors to have off.

Abigail Ford, sophomore

Preference: spring break

Why: I worked for 14+ hours on a midterm on the March 10th lagniappe day. Definitely wasn’t a mental health day.

Sydney Thomas, senior

Preference: spring break

Why: One random day off doesn’t help my mental health in the slightest.

Julia Bergman, senior

Preference: lagniappe day

Why: In normal years I would prefer a spring break but I appreciate that lagniappe days allow us time off while also keeping the community safer. I think lagniappe days also feel like more of a break where spring break was a lot more fun because you could go on a trip once it’s done it’s done and it goes by really quick.