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Minnesota State University, Mankato
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MSU closes campus for first time in 12 years, cancels Monday daytime classes
REECE HEMMESCH Editor in Chief A dull roar echoed through the hillside of southern Minnesota Sunday night as the students of MSU-Mankato rejoiced while receiving an update that their University had done the unthinkable: cancelled classes. As undergrads, masters students, professors and faculty alike huddled around television sets all evening for the continued and never-ending list of school cancellations and closings across the state, a text message from the MSU, Mankato STAR ALERT system appeared on most students’ cell phones at 7:58 p.m. bringing in the joyous news. “Daytime classes for Monday, Jan 2 are cancelled due to weather conditions,” the text alert read, making yesterday the first ‘snow day’ for most students at MSU. The University also closed all offices on campus from 10:30 p.m. Sunday night to noon Monday due to road conditions in the southern part of the state. Class cancellations have happened often, but president Richard Davenport does not remember the University closing like this in his 12 years at MSU. “There’s quite a process for determining whether we are going to cancel classes or to close the University,” Davenport said. “Closing the University rarely ever happens so that was a big decision but we have cancelled classes many times because of weather.” Along with MSU, the University of Minnesota, St. Cloud State University, College of St. Benedict/St. Johns University, Augsburg College, Hamline University and many other technical colleges were among the list of schools to close their doors Monday, along with a majority of high schools around the state. “Often you’ll see community colleges close but universities stay open,” Davenport explained. “One of these reasons is they are typically not a residential campus and their students are coming
INSIDE:
Photo Courtesy of Associated Press High winds and low temperatures and blowing snow made outdoor activities dangerous for the unprepared Sunday, Jan. 26, 2014
from all over the place.” The private colleges go off their own checklist for closing school, but MnSCU has its own policy for emergency closings that puts the responsibility of deciding the outcome towards the president of the University. According to MnSCU board
events is under the emergency closing policy, where a definition is laid out for severe weather. It reads that “sever weather is typically defined, but not limited to, heavy snowfall (typically greater than 6”), ice storms or excessive winds which result in the closure of multiple, surrounding major roads and create significant safety
Monday. “We were hearing other colleges and public schools closing but in this particular case, we saw highways closing,” Davenport said, who noted that many of the major highways surrounding the city were closed last night. “That means our students, faculty and
“For the closing of the University, we wanted to make sure all of our employees got home safely. In the cancelling of classes, we do certainly make sure that the safety of our students and faculty is first and foremost.” -Richard Davenport, MSU President policy 4.4, “the authority to cancel classes due to weather conditions or other short term emergencies resides with the college or University president or the president’s designee.” MSU’s strategy for such
concerns.” The unreasonable road conditions, along side winds reaching 20-plus miles per hour left President Richard Davenport with the tough task of deciding whether MSU students would be forced to make the trek towards campus
staff would have a hard time getting home (Sunday night) and getting here (Monday morning).” Though University offices re-opened at noon and evening classes were still in session, the feeling was mutual across cam-
MAVS WINLESS IN INAUGURAL NSCC - PAGE 13
pus that a day away from frigid temperatures and unsympathetic road conditions was reasonable. Nicholas Nothom, a sophomore in the mechanical engineering department still rode his moped four miles to campus Monday morning through the cold to study in the warm confines of the Centennial Student Union. He understood that with people coming into Mankato from the outside, it would have made for tough conditions on the roads into town. “I think it was probably a good decision to cancel school for the day since some people might not have been able to get here,” Nothom said. Sean Anderson also agreed that daytime classes should have been cancelled, though his sympathies lay more with students walking in than driving. “It’s smart, especially with people that live in the dorms and have to walk anyway,” Anderson, a junior elementary education major said. “They don’t want to be out in the cold.” Anderson’s reasoning for walking to campus from down the hill even through the cancellation is due to the partial closing of University offices Monday, as his place of business, Barnes and Noble, was still open partially throughout the day. He, like others still had to work on this free day, but still felt the University made the right decision regarding the roads and temperatures. “That or a lot of snow,” Anderson explained. “I guess in Minnesota it depends on snow or cold.” As for Davenport, he was happy with his decision to keep the campus inhabitants safe while cancelling classes and shutting down campus for a part of the day. He did receive one distraught e-mail from a parent about the cancelling of classes, where he recognized their reasoning, but reiterated the idea of keeping the campus safe. “I understood that they were unhappy about not getting their money’s worth,” Davenport said. “But in this situation safety is the first concern.” ED/OP
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