Snow Brings Woes to the Longwood Community

Students received an email around 5 p.m. on Sunday evening, stating that classes would go on as normal on Monday. The decision was later pulled, with a delayed opening announced around 8 p.m. Sunday night. Evening classes on Monday and another delayed opening on Tuesday were also announced. With more dicey weather in the forecast for the remainder of the week, the Longwood administration team is working hard to make the decision on campus activities.Longwood Facilities Director Richard Bratcher, Provost Wayne McWee, Vice President of Student Affairs Tim Pierson and the Police Department worked together to make the decision of delaying and canceling classes.

Pierson explained the university pays for a weather site that gives hour-by-hour information that is much more detailed than what The Weather Channel shows. He said they use the data and drive around to look at sites to determine whether it is safe enough to hold classes. "We were all at the police station in the evening. We collaborated and we decided we would go with a delayed open based on the fact that both public safety and our facilities director believed that by 10 a.m. they would have enough chemical down and enough grit down to make the walkway safe," said McWee.

McWee explained the team consulted multiple times and will continue to discuss as more severe weather moves in. Pierson said there are concerns about classes in regards to keeping the number of context hours so they are accredited for those classes, so the academic side will push to hold classes.

McWee said the team was concerned about snow melting during the day and re-freezing overnight, causing patches of black ice on the road. McWee said they were concerned about student driving home at 9 p.m. at night, which prompted the cancellation of Monday's night classes. "The chemicals we put down during the day would have reached their effectiveness," explained McWee.

McWee received a number of emails from students, and had been in contact with Student Government Association (SGA) President Cameron Patterson. McWee said he considers all emails that come in and responds to all the ones he has received.

"SGA has directed students to contact Dr. McWee if they have any questions or concerns because although he is not the only one that makes the decision to close, he is the Provost and he is a major part of the decision making process," explained SGA Vice President Emily Van Daniker.

There were mixed opinions on whether or not Longwood made the right decisions in regards to classes. Some students felt that school should have been cancelled all together. "I do think school should have been canceled after seeing the conditions of parking lots and sidewalks around town and campus. It simply is not safe for students to be out in. Longwood needs to consider the risks they subject the institution and it's students and staff to with more caution and consideration. They need to see it not so much as a free day for students but as an effort to minimize risks to the Longwood community," said senior Rachel Hood.

"A lot of the handicap ramps had not even been attempted to be shoveled, which is a severe problem. Also, numerous students fell today due to black ice and you almost had to fight for walking space on sidewalks. Many commuter students also had issues getting to school in their cars on the icy roads," said Van Daniker.

Some students and faculty felt that holding classes was the right decision. "I really don't mind them having classes as long as they give a free pass to those who couldn't make it to campus. I live at Sunchase and I know there were definitely people here who couldn't get to class. Anyone without four-wheel or front-wheel drive was most likely stuck here. The people at Sunchase hadn't done ANYTHING to clear our parking lots," said senior Daniel Bendele.

"It is logical to hold classes when it is determined that the majority of students and staff can safely arrive at LU. While some classes may have been cancelled due to weather conditions, most were able to be held as scheduled. I'm sure faculty would be very understanding of students who were unable to attend due to unsafe road conditions," said Professor Cynthia Schmidt. "I think the only time the university should completely close would be if conditions are unsafe in the immediate vicinity and/or for the majority of students/staff traveling to campus," she added.

"Missed classes are a vast pain for a professor, esp[ecially] if you're teaching two sections of one class and one section gets cancelled while the other doesn't. It's hard to get out of sync classes coordinated together again," said English Professor Dr. Chene Heady.

There were a number of faculty and students pleased with the compromise of a delay. "I suppose a delay is better than nothing however when I had to go to campus at 10 [a.m.], many of Farmville's streets were still pretty bad and the commuter lot where I park was covered in ice," said Hood. "Yes, the delay was definitely appropriate except it should have been longer than the two hours allowed," said Dr. Rachel Matthews.

"Longwood has become a regional university with a significant number of commuter students. By forcing these students, and some faculty, to commute in the early morning with patches of ice and snow on the roads puts them at a heightened risk. With a two-hour delay, people can drive in during daylight," said Dr. Roy Creasey.

"Longwood needs to take into consideration that they have commuter students, and not just from the Village or Sunchase. A lot of students drive from areas like Crewe, Buckingham and Amelia." said junior Melissa Wright.

"It is a judgment call. I think on Monday we would have been better off if we had said noon," said Pierson. He also explained it is a difficult call to make and they have to go off of the information they have on hand.

"Each one of you has to make a judgment on your own personal safety," advised Pierson. As more poor weather is in the forecast, Pierson encouraged all students to continually check the Longwood website, www.longwood.edu, for updates on the university schedule.