The 97th annual Turkey Day Classic events and game is inching near, and some students cannot be more excited. Although some students are looking forward to the classic, many have decided to return home for the remainder of the fall 2021 academic semester. 

Zimara Beafore, a junior criminal justice major, said the biggest reason students are not remaining on campus for the Turkey Day Classic is thanks to the Thanksgiving holiday. 

“I am from California, so leaving for Thanksgiving usually means I am leaving for the semester,” Beafore said. According to Beafore, some students leave for the semester during the Thanksgiving holiday because many classes allow them to finish their finals early or online. 

Tyfani Turpin, a senior theatre major, said some students use that time before the classic to go home and spend time with their friends and family. 

“A lot of students are already stuck here, so they use the time near Turkey Day Classic as a chance to go home and be with family because a lot of the time, it is needed as a coping mechanism,” said Turpin. “You have a lot of students who are far away from home, and they use that time because they can get homesick.” 

William Dunn, Jr., a senior mathematics major, says that students just want to be home with their families. 

“Although Turkey Day Classic is the oldest classic, in current times, ASU’s student population is diverse when it comes to where the students are from,” Dunn said. “With the school being closed and Thanksgiving being a holiday about family and things you are grateful for, no one wants to be alone in a dorm just for a few hours of watching a football game.”

Hunter Smith, a senior therapeutic recreation major, said, “The reason students are not staying on campus for the classic is mainly because it is Thanksgiving, and some of the students that live on campus have not seen their families since school started, and they would like to see them on that day.”