The Knox Student

For Campus Safety, Flunk Day is about more than the flunk.

“We play a critical role to make sure everyone is safe and has a fun time,” Director of Campus Safety John Schlaf said.

This critical role includes taking a larger-than-average number of calls.

“Our number of calls throughout Flunk Day are higher than other days during the term,” Schlaf said.

The calls that they receive are of their usual variety, with students being locked out of their room, noise complaints and injuries and alcohol violations, to name a few.

With Flunk Day, a number of students choose to consume alcohol as part of their celebration.

“The Dean [Debbie Southern] makes the point in her Flunk Day e-mail that there is no change in alcohol policy,” Schlaf said.

Sometimes the alcohol violation is dealt with by the Galesburg Police Department (GPD).

“The GPD will make their decision based on existing law,” Schlaf said.

With Flunk Day comes an increase of calls not only to Campus Safety but also to emergency personnel in Galesburg.

“We maintain communications throughout the day with GPD to deal with calls that have an impact on both departments,” Schlaf said. “It’s similar to a large sporting event or an important speaker coming to Knox. It is important to inform them so they are able to handle the situation if they were to come to campus.”

Since most officers hold second jobs at a variety of locations, Schlaf is aware of other commitments and schedules when getting extra personnel for Flunk Day.

“It really depends on who is available,” Schlaf said.

Schlaf understands the tradition of Flunk Day and sees the day as a positive day.

“We enjoy the potential for everyone to have a good time,” Schlaf said. “The only thing that saddens the day is if someone gets hurt or if there’s a violation … it can be a happy time for everybody and that’s what we hope for it to be.”

Schlaf neither confirmed nor denied knowledge of the specific date of Flunk Day. However, he did say that Campus Safety works with both Campus Life and Student Development throughout the process of both planning and execution.

“We all respect the tradition of Flunk Day,” Schlaf said. “We realize that confidentiality is part of tradition as a Knox employee.”