Brown U To Stop Observing Columbus Day - New Holiday Called 'Fall Weekend'

[The Straight Story]

Brown U To Stop Observing Columbus Day
Faculty Establishes New Holiday Called 'Fall Weekend'

PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Brown University is taking the "Columbus Day" out of Columbus Day weekend.

The faculty voted at a meeting Tuesday to establish a new academic holiday in October called "Fall Weekend." The long weekend coincides with Columbus Day.

Hundreds of Brown students had asked the Providence school to stop observing Columbus Day, citing the explorer's violent treatment of Native Americans he encountered. Reiko Koyama, a sophomore who led the effort, said celebrating Columbus Day seemed inconsistent with Brown's values.

The change will take effect in in the fall. Brown will remain closed on Columbus Day, in part to avoid inconveniencing staff whose children might have the holiday off.

Many other colleges are open on Columbus Day but give students short breaks later in the semester.

http://www.clickorlando.com/education/19129770/detail.html

[musette_sf]

1. it's been "Indigenous Peoples Day" in Berkeley for quite awhile

[SpiralHawk]

2. To mourn the Discovery of the lost profiteer, Christobal Colon

Poor bastard thought he was headed to China, but when he was Discovered in the Amerikuas by the Taino and other native civilizations, he went Totally Imperialist Pig with the torture, murder, rape, and theft thingys.

So we should all mourn the day this miserable, gold-grasping bastard was born, and lament all the needless, fear-based suffering he brought into the world after Amerikua discovered him & his crew flopping around -- thousands of miles from China -- lost at sea.

[ddeclue]

3. Rut-roh!!

:popcorn:

This ought to be interesting...

[Smarmie Doofus]

4. Maybe "East Meets West Day"?

It's a pivotal moment in western... and *world*... history. Seems to me it ought to be recognized. That doesn't mean making Columbus into a kind of saint... that's a lie... but it does mean recognizing the importance of that voyage and that landing.

The more people know about history , the better.