The Sedgwick Golf Tournament, an annual event put on by the Creighton Student Bar Association, will not have a place on the academic calendar after this year.
Eric Chiappinelli, the School of Law dean, announced the decision last Wednesday.
The tournament, a tradition for many Creighton alumni, students and professors, has been held for 41 years and was started by students to foster relationships among first-year law students. It is funded by the Student Bar Association, student fees and donations from local law firms.
For at least the last 28 years, law students have had the Friday of the second week in September set aside for the tournament.
In light of the dean’s decision, the association will have to find an alternative date or cancel the tournament said Jon Casper, president of the Student Bar Association.
Craig Dallon, associate dean of the Law School, said the timing of the tournament prompted the administration’s decision.
Because the tournament is scheduled during the same week as Mass of the Holy Spirit, Monday, Wednesday and Friday classes only meet once during the week.
He also said the tournament is disruptive to first-year students who have just begun their academic year.
“We’re trying to get them into good study habits,” he said. “We’re an educational institution and we’re not in the position to shift classes.”
Casper said the tournament is more than a socializing activity.
“Creighton law is one of the few law schools in the country where professors engage students outside the classroom,” he said. “The students believe that this tradition represents what is best about this institution.”
Casper also said students are upset because they were not consulted about removing Sedgwick from the academic calendar. He said the association would have been willing to compromise if the students had been informed about the decision beforehand.
Sedgwick does not cancel the number of class days for law students. Instead, an academic day is added to the Fall schedule to make room for it.
Dallon said students will receive an extra study day before the first round of exams since Sedgwick has been removed from the schedule.
Casper believes the administration’s decision may affect the future of the tournament.
Dallon suggested the students move the event to a weekend date or split the participants between two Friday afternoons.
Casper said it would be difficult to find a golf range that would allow the students to hold the event on the weekend. He said splitting the students up would disregard the intended purpose of the event.
Carla Develder, associate dean for Student Services, said the administration hopes the students continue the tournament.
“We fully intend for this opportunity to continue,” said Develder. “We never intended for the tournament to be canceled. We think it’s a great program.”
Since the Student Bar Association Board is elected in the spring, the future of Sedgwick is unknown. Casper says the decision will be up to next year’s executive board.