MRU students have been trying to get Fall Reading Week moved for over ten years.

Majority (doesn’t) rule: The Fall Reading Week conundrum

Students have been clear for years: Fall Reading Week should move to November.

This year, we came closer than ever to making it a reality. And still, it fell short again.

The power to move Fall Reading Break sits with Mount Royal University’s General Faculties Council (GFC), the university’s highest academic governing board. 

In October 2025, the GFC voted to survey students and faculty on whether Fall Reading Week should stay in October, attached to Thanksgiving, or move to November, attached to Remembrance Day.

In January 2026, that survey went out through MRU’s Office of Institutional Research and Planning. You may have even participated yourself. The results reinforced what students have been saying since the inception of Fall Reading Week: 78 percent of students supported moving Fall Reading Week to November.

This result reached the two-thirds majority needed from students to move the week off from classes. But student support alone was not enough.

The MRU Faculty were also required to have two-thirds of its surveyed population vote in favour of moving the break. But despite 58 percent of the faculty supporting the move in the January survey, that support was not enough.

No longer about students

In a press release sent to CTV in 2016, then Mount Royal University president David Docherty announced that Fall Reading Days (which previously gave students three out of five days off during the week of Remembrance Day) would be moved to Thanksgiving weekend and expanded to a full Reading Week in 2017. 

In the release, Docherty stated, “We feel strongly that the timing of this break will be extremely beneficial to students’ mental health and well-being” and that “The decision to add a fall term reading week reflects our commitment to student success.”

Almost immediately, students voiced their dissatisfaction with the new Reading Week. In 2019, MRU journalism instructor Mike Vernon conducted a survey in which 97 broadcast media and journalism students were polled, and 84.5 percent of those students voiced dissatisfaction with the current days the week lands on, with many stating that it was too early and that a November break would be more beneficial based on workload.

In 2023, The Reflector polled students on their satisfaction with the timing of MRU’s fall reading week. Of 62 respondents, 43.5 percent gave it the lowest possible score. Most of the rest weren’t far behind.

This data, alongside the latest findings from MRU’s Office of Institutional Research and Planning, shows a shift in the university’s priorities.

If Reading Week truly aimed to support students’ mental well-being and success, the university wouldn’t have spent years ignoring and disregarding students’ concerns.

Reading Week Blog Image

What’s next?

Leading up to the March 20, 2026, GFC meeting, your SAMRU Representation Executive Council (REC) made their latest push to move Fall Reading Week to November to align with other Universities in Alberta and with student mental health and academic concerns.

Students showed up at the meeting supporting a November Reading Week while sporting “majority rules” stickers and ensuring they were noticed by GFC attendees. 

Because the motion to consider moving Fall Reading Week was ultimately defeated, Fall Reading Week will stay in October until it’s brought up for discussion again … possibly not until the Fall 2029 Semester. 

Students have done their part. They showed up. They answered. They made their voices clear more than once. Now the question is whether the university is prepared to act on what students have said.

—– UPDATE! APRIL 17 —–

  • The Faculty is on our side: MRFA President, Brenda Lang, personally put forward the motion this month and fought hard for it.
  • Although the motion to bring it forward was again defeated, MRU’s President is listening: Following the debate, President Tim Rahilly acknowledged its importance to the community. He has committed to taking the issue to his leadership team for a review and will report back to GFC.

We aren’t done. We’ve updated our full breakdown of the process and what’s next here: samru.ca/mru-fall-reading-week-november-vote-2026

How you can help: Showing up matters. Student presence made a huge impact at the March meeting and kept the pressure on in April. GFC meetings happen on the third Friday of every month. You can also reach out to REC directly at representation@samru.ca to share your thoughts.

We encourage students to continue sharing their voices loudly and proudly, including by contacting REC via email at representation@samru.ca regarding this or any other issue.

Students can also attend GFC meetings, held on the third Friday of each month from September to May, to show faculty that this cannot wait until 2029. While the motion may have fallen short for now, REC will continue advocating for students and exploring all available options to ensure students’ voices are heard.

For general inquiries, you can contact us at info@samru.ca.