Academic Affairs combined mid-term and Easter breaks, giving St. Thomas students one break for this spring semester.

Michael Jordan, Associate Vice President for Undergraduate Studies and Academic Advisement, said the university picked the dates because Easter is in the middle of the semester this year.

“Spring break is scheduled for the midpoint of the semester,” Jordan said. “We always attempt to schedule spring break after seven weeks of classes have been in session.”

Easter is always calculated to by first full moon following the vernal equinox, and spring break is determined by the university to be halfway through the semester.

“We schedule break at the mid-term break to be at the midpoint of the semester, and Easter is determined by the phases of the moon and traditional definition of Easter,” Jordan said. “We don’t really have any control over it.”

Senior Paige Patet said she is traveling to Chicago with VISION over spring break and returning Saturday night before Easter.

“Knowing I’ll be able to be back home for Easter helped out with that decision,” Patet said.

This will be Patet’s sixth VISION trip, but the first time she’s been away from her family on Holy Thursday and Good Friday.

“I’m excited because I think I’ll be able to incorporate (my spirituality) somehow into the trip,” Patet said.

Patet said some people were deterred from going on a trip over break because they want to spend time with their families over Easter.

“I talked to a couple of my roommates and they mentioned how they were less inclined to look into a VISION trip because of it being over Easter break,” Patet said. “They either want to be here to go to Mass or to be with their families during that time.”

Although some students choose not to go on trips because the combined break, Jordan said the committee didn’t take that into account.

“We certainly did not make a decision to avoid that happening this year,” Jordan said. “We would have had to deliberately hold spring break either early or late in order to prevent it from coinciding with Easter break.”

Freshman Zac Houle likes having spring break and Easter at the same time because “you kill two birds with one stone.”

Jordan said combining Easter break and spring break has happened in the past and will occur again in the future. In 2015, Easter week may cause the university to make scheduling changes to move spring break.

“It would be less of an interruption in the academic schedule if the two coincide,” Jordan said.

After returning from Chicago, Patet said she has plans for Easter.

“I’ll probably end up going to Mass at the Cathedral that morning and then my family usually has close family over at my house,” Patet said.

Stephanie Dodd can be reached at dodd0474@stthomas.edu.