Date Restrictions
Certain times of the year have been designated by the College as periods when campus facilities are deemed unavailable and cannot be reserved.
Consequently, events cannot be scheduled during these time periods. Generally, these are periods when standing College events occur which take priority over ad hoc events; when College staff is unavailable to support events on campus because of peak workload; or when College staff is unavailable to support events on campus because of planned downtime in support services departments.
Designated Blackout periods and Grey-Out periods are outlined below in this policy. Additionally, there may be special College celebrations or commemorative events which only occur in one year (e.g., dedication of a new building), that will be designated as a Blackout period for that year. The list of specific dates for all Blackout and Grey-Out periods each academic year is maintained by the Department of Event Management.
Blackout Periods
Scheduling of events on campus is prohibited for all groups, both College groups and non-College groups. This includes Bread Loaf campus. (Small College meetings and department meetings are permitted.)
- Fall Orientation Days
- Thanksgiving Recess
- December Holiday Break (the day after the last day of finals, through January 1)
- Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
- Spring Break
- Senior Week
- Commencement/ Reunion/ start of Language Schools session
- Day of Language Schools Commencement
- Week after Language Schools Commencement (7-day period following commencement)
Grey-Out Periods
Scheduling of non-College events or events by non-College groups is prohibited. Scheduling of College events on campus by College groups is allowed (if support services are available). This includes the Bread Loaf campus.
- February Orientation Days
- Last Week of August
- October Break
- Fall Family Weekend
- Clifford Symposium
- Homecoming
- Winter Term Break / Spring Term Orientation
- Winter Carnival
- NESCAC/NCAA Championships
- Campus Preview Days
- Spring Student Symposium
- Last week of June (7 calendar days preceding the opening of the six-week Language Schools)
Partial Grey-Out Period
Trustee Weekends (Thursday and Friday, plus Saturday morning) are partial grey-out periods. College events may be scheduled during Trustee Weekends except for the following venues:
- Kirk
- Old Chapel
- Mitchell Green Lounge
- Davis Family Library rooms 105A/B and 145
- McCardell Bicentennial Great Hall
- Hadley Barn
- Bread Loaf (for the fall meeting)