While most Dalhousie University students may be happy to learn their school’s faculty will not go on strike, others were looking forward to an excuse to drink.
In anticipation of the strike, a group named Strike Fest organized a five-day drinking extravaganza, which was slated to start March 12 if negotiations failed.
“It looks like the DFA [Dalhousie Faculty Association] have reached a deal last minute — which is terrible news,” the Facebook group read. “For now Strike Fest is off . . . we are sorry that we can’t throw the party all of us deserve.”
By March 11, the university administration and its faculty reached an agreement, so classes are still running. But students are still itching for a reason to head to the bars, said Laura MacEachern, a second-year computer science student at Dalhousie.
“When the strike was averted there were a lot of students that still wanted Strike Fest to happen,” MacEachern said. “I was definitely planning on going to some of the bars on the Strike Fest calendar, even if I didn’t buy myself a ticket.”
Strike Fest organizers said they’d offer full refunds to all ticket holders if a deal was reached, according to their Facebook group.
Yet due to popular demand, Strike Fest organizers will still be throwing a smaller-scale weekend party, according to group.
“Only way to handle the Dalhousie Non-Strike? By having a 4-day bender this weekend,” one of the posts read.
But fun and games aside, MacEachern said the strike was extremely stressful. It could have stopped her from starting her upcoming co-op term in April.
The DFA reached a tentative three-year agreement, according to a university press release.
