Holiday Conspiracy

Collected by Kam Manahan (kam.manahan@vanderbilt.edu)

Summary: Vanderbilt’s failure to observe any holidays that would allow for three day
weekends is attributed to the anti-labor character of the school’s founder.

Text:  Here’s a piece of Vanderbilt folklore. I heard that Vanderbilt doesn’t
celebrate Labor Day because Cornelius Vanderbilt, the 19th Century robber
baron, had it written into our university charter that the school would
never celebrate Labor Day because he was so opposed to unions and workers’
rights. Maybe that’s why we don’t get any holidays or three day weekends.

Notes:  While the informant maintains a reasonable level of doubt about the
credibility of the tale, she also found it quite plausible given the history
of the administration’s general treatment of faculty. After relating the
tale the informant solidified her credence in the tale by relating personal
experiences of bearing the brunt of what she perceives to be poor relations
between the administration and faculty. An example given by the informant
recalled the time that she was forced to literally crawl to deliver a class
lecture after an ice storm since the administration refused to cancel
classes. The informant also opposed her treatment here at Vanderbilt with
her experiences at other universities where they were periodically granted
three day weekends and observed more holidays.

CONTEXT
A. Brief summary of tale:
Vanderbilt’s failure to observe any holidays that would allow for three day
weekends is attributed to the anti-labor character of the school’s founder.
B. Tale type and motifs:
Anti-establishment
C. Comments on tale:
Informant claims to have heard the tale from several different sources and
finds it quite credible if not exactly proven.
D. Approximate date informant first heard the tale:
Early September 1998
E. Relationship of your informant with the individual from whom the
informant heard the tale:
Co-workers
F. Circumstances when tale was first heard:
In course of discussion during informant’s office hours
G. Give the following information on your informant:
Age: ?
Sex: Female
Place of birth: Iowa
Ethnic group: Caucasian
Languages spoken: English, Spanish, Portuguese, Wari
Religion: unknown
Year in school (or education level if not a student): Professor
Extracurricular jobs? none
Date Collected: 9/18/1998