Campus Closing Leaves Students and Faculty Uncertain
by Ryan Mains
On Wednesday, February 7th, a vicious snowstorm forced Husson University to resort to something it rarely did: closing down the campus at noontime. With the vast majority of the student body on campus, very rarely does snow prove an issue, so times were truly desperate. An “Eagle Alert” was sent out, urging students to stay safe and warm. Class, at least afternoon ones, had been cancelled. Given the sheer size of the storm, it would be difficult to argue that the cancellation wasn’t necessary.
The alert in question.
The storm left Maine with nearly fifteen inches of snow, leaving quite a clean-up job ahead, which forced numerous commuters and faculty members to stay off the roads and indoors rather than risk getting in life-threatening situations.
And with cancellations came reshuffling, with both teachers and faculty facing an uncertain day. “Yeah, it really kind of threw me off,” remarked Husson student Caitilin Race, who had woken up to a Canvas alert informing her of the closing. “I was going to go out and do some photography stuff, but it’s pretty cold, so maybe I’ll take pictures of something warm. *laughs*” Jordan Verge, a video major, admitted that he had “basically gotten food and then just hunkered down for the day and studied.”
On the more administrative side of the shutdown, several events had to be rescheduled, most notably the Banff Film festival, which was dedicated to showcasing a variety of short films from around the world that would have been held in Husson’s famed Gracie Theatre. At 11:07 AM, an hour before campus would close, Jeffrey Hope, a professor who had managed to secure free tickets to the event for several students, sent out a Canvas message stating that he had “just received is cancelled.” and that the event’s organizers are “hoping to reschedule”.
Of course, the day wasn’t over for everyone, with Husson’s Equipment Distribution Center to ensure students wouldn’t have to worry about not returning rented out equipments such as cameras and mics for projects, while Husson’s maintenance crews worked to ensure the school was presentable the day after. “Yeah, we’re going to be open all day,” answered an EDC employee when asked over the phone. For those who didn’t call in, details regarding the EDC were also enclosed in Hope’s email about the cancellations.
But there’s always a silver lining to situations like this, and Caitlin was able to find one of her own. When asked about the weather affecting roads, she smiled and explained, “Hey, with not as many commuters, the parking doesn’t suck.”
