A number of U.S. universities are giving students ample room to grieve in the wake of Donald Trump’s election victory Wednesday.
Barnard, a women’s liberal arts college based in New York City, has given professors the opportunity to cancel classes and is offering students counseling after the “heightened emotions” caused by the election.
“The Barnard faculty is well aware that you may be struggling, and they are here for you,” read an email from the college president and dean, obtained by THE WEEKLY STANDARD.
“We have decided not to institute a College-wide cancellation of classes,” the email continued. “We are, however, leaving decisions regarding individual classes, exams, and assignments to the discretion of our faculty.”
“This is an important time to come together to share our thoughts and experiences.”
In a student-wide email Wednesday, Harvard College also urged recipients to find “common ground.”
“I know that many of you are processing the election results in different ways,” the email, obtained by TWS and sent by the college’s dean, read. “While each election has winners and losers, this election has been particularly difficult and divisive.”
Harvard will be hosting a “post-election discussion and reflection for students of color” on Wednesday night, run by New York state Assemblyman Michael Blake, per a mental health representative at the college.
American University is also holding a vigil for students “who needed a quiet place to reflect and talk” about the election Wednesday, the Vice President of Campus Life told TWS.
An AU student further said that his Black Queer Studies class was cancelled for the day.
Other universities have pushed back exams or made them optional due to the election results.
At Columbia, which is closely affiliated with Barnard, professors reportedly postponed over a dozen midterm exams out of concern for students’ mental health.
A Yale economics professor also made his exam optional after students wrote to him expressing “shock” and sadness over the election results.
Meanwhile, a New York University student said that her biology professor made a Friday exam optional because students’ “distress from the election” could “make it difficult for them to study.”
