(CARBONDALE, IL) — SIU Carbondale students will spend the first day of the Fall 2017 semester out of the classroom. SIUC Chancellor Brad Colwell announced the university will cancel classes August 21st due to the total solar eclipse. Colwell says there will be a lot of activity on campus and he doesn’t want the distraction to take away from SIU’s academic mission. The delay in the first day of class won’t affect the rest of the university’s schedule for the semester.