Things just keep getting increasingly more bizarre on our college campuses.
Missouri State University students are actually demanding that the school cancel the entire first day of classes of the 2017 fall semester so they can watch the solar eclipse on August 21, reports Campus Reform.
In an online petition, the students complain that they will not be able to see the entire solar eclipse from where MSU is located in Springfield, Missouri.
“Thousands of students at Missouri State University will miss out on seeing the full solar eclipse because of the first day of classes,” the petition reads. “Springfield does not lie on the path of totality for the eclipse, so students will have to drive 2 hours at a minimum to view it.”
In four days, the petition has garnered nearly 4,000 signatures, short of its goal of 5,000, with many people commenting that the eclipse will be a “once in a lifetime” event.
"I'll never get to see this again," one student wrote.
The next total solar eclipse in North America will be on April 8, 2024, in less than 7 years.
One person commented on the petition saying she plans to skip classes "anyway" so as to not “miss seeing a 100% solar eclipse at home” versus going to school to “only see 96%.”
Apparently not being able to see the “full” solar eclipse means only missing out on a whopping 4% of it.
“Ozarks First reports that while Springfield, Missouri does not lie in the path of full eclipse, viewers in that city will see 96 percent of the eclipse—more than enough for MSU’s College of Natural and Applied Sciences to host a massive viewing party for the August 21 solar eclipse at the university’s Plaster Stadium,” writes Campus Reform.
MSU reportedly has no plans to cancel classes.
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