Stanley will ask university governance committees to make the two-day break permanent the following year, he said in an emailed statement.

Some professors are worried that canceled classes would decrease voter turnout Nov. 3 because first-time voters are less likely to vote if they leave campus, according to Michigan Radio.

In 2018, MSU’s total voting rate was 35.2% of students, about 4% less than the voting rate for all institutions that same year, according to the National Study of Learning, Voting and Engagement. However, this figure was about 21% higher than in 2014.

Political science senior and Associated Students of Michigan State University, or ASMSU, President Mario Kakos said he hopes the fall break creates a boost in turnout.

“I think that the fall break will help in the sense that students will have no classes, exams, tests or quizzes," Kakos said. It’ll increase that they will have more time to plan and prepare whether they vote at MSU or if they decided to go home and do something else.”

In addition to giving students an opportunity to vote, Kakos wants to give students the chance to rest from “the demands of the semester.”

“For instance, just this past year, we had from Sept. 2 to late November without any breaks for students,” Kakos said. “And there’s a lot of data to support students in the fall semester without any form of break will suffer and face more mental health problems and seek more urgent help as well.”

ASMSU and university administration has discussed the idea of a fall break for almost a decade. So, while next year’s fall break is a test run, Kakos has faith that the university will be able to figure out a permanent schedule change soon.

“There are many institutions that have figured it out,” Kakos said. “I don’t think it’ll take much from MSU. It will take efforts starting it and ensuring that there isn’t much disorder … But with that being said, I really don’t think it’ll take much out of the administration.”