On Monday, Morgan State University announced that the Spring 2022 semester would start on Jan. 24 and end on May 13.

It also said the university will now only allocate one wellness day, Apr. 15, and the week designated for spring break, Mar. 14 to Mar. 20, as wellness week. Professors should not assign homework or schedule classes for these days.

This week’s announcement negates a Nov. 17 email from Farzad Moazzami, the associate vice president for academic affairs, which scheduled the start of the spring semester for Jan. 19.

Mozzami’s email also said that the university would designate four days, Feb. 9, Mar. 3, Apr. 15, and May 13, as reading and wellness days, in addition to spring break designated as the Spring Wellness Week.

Wellness days were introduced during the spring 2021 semester to supplement spring break and prevent students from traveling  during the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.

This fall, Provost Hongtao Yu and the Student Government Association reintroduced the days to prevent stress amongst students.

Yu said that the university’s initial decision to push back the spring semester’s start date was necessary to make room for the semester’s additional wellness days.

However, he said that after he and Kevin Banks, vice president of student affairs, met with the SGA, they collectively decided to recant their original decision.

“During the meeting, it was determined that the university is not ready for, and the SGA does not want to have an early start of classes this coming spring, so the planned revised schedule was tabled,” said Yu. 

“As we continue to navigate the current landscape that we find ourselves facing, we commit to remaining flexible and operating in the best interest of the Morgan Community,” said Yu.