A blanket of about 100 cm of snow dropped onto the city earlier this week, forcing the closure of The University of Western Ontario for two and a half days. As the city digs out of its first major snowfall of the year, Western students, staff and faculty proved that helping others in times of need is not just an attitude reserved for the holidays.
The deteriorating weather conditions on Monday, Dec. 6 forced university officials to cancel afternoon classes and exams, as well as close the libraries and the Western Student Recreation Centre. The university remained closed for Tuesday, Dec. 7 and Wednesday, Dec. 8 due to the snowstorm.
The last time Western closed due to inclement weather was Dec. 24, 2008. In fact, every two years this decade (2004 and 2006), Western has been forced to close in December due to bad weather conditions.
“This week has been challenging for all members of our campus community, and I am very impressed by how understanding, patient and helpful people have been under the circumstances,” says Western president Amit Chakma. “I’ve heard all kinds of stories about students, staff and faculty who went above and beyond to help ensure that residence life continued on as normally as possible, despite the horrible weather and the fact that the rest of campus was shut down. These kinds of experiences, as frustrating as they can be, tend to bring out the best in people.
“It’s another example of the great spirit that exists on our campus, and I want to thank everyone who pitched in to help our community get through it together,” he says.
Adding to challenges created by the snowstorm, Elgin Hall residence had to be evacuated Tuesday because a carbon monoxide detector was activated. Students and staff from the building were relocated to Medway-Sydenham Hall and Alumni Hall while the situation was investigated by emergency personnel. No one was injured.
An enormous build-up of snow around a furnace vent caused the alarm. The snow was cleared from the vent (as well as proactively cleared from all other such vents in other buildings across campus) and after a few hours Elgin Hall residents were able to return to the building.
While the official exam schedule begins today (Friday, Dec. 10), some faculty-based exams scheduled during the snowstorm were cancelled. The students affected by these cancellations have been contacted about rescheduling the exams.
It’s a big decision to close the university, and one that is not taken lightly.
Gitta Kulczycki, vice-president (Resources & Operations), says university officials, in consultation with Western’s Campus Police Service and the grounds staff, assess the conditions on campus, including evaluating the capacity of staff to keep up with Mother Nature. The status of the operations of London Transit Commission is taken into consideration, particularly because many students and employees rely on the buses for transportation. The time of year within the academic calendar is also a factor to be considered.
“While definitely safety trumps all else, we are cognizant that any unplanned disruption to our students’ academic activities is stressful in and of itself at what is already a stressful time of year,” says Kulczycki.
If the university decides to close, certain essential services must continue. The needs of students living on campus are a priority, and they must continue to be provided with food, shelter and safety. Campus roadways must be cleared for emergency access, and campus police continue to operate its dispatch centre 24/7. The grounds crew is critical during a snowstorm, and communications staff is key during a closure to keep the community of about 40,000 people up-to-date on what is happening on campus.
“Pretty remarkable people work at Western. They have a strong commitment to our students and go to incredible lengths to come to campus because they know our students need them,” says Kulczycki. “Residence staff, caretaking staff, food services staff, grounds staff – if they could come in, they did, and some went to extraordinary lengths to do so. We have approximately 125 student staff members in residences and they too pitched in, in more ways than I even know.”
‘Snowmageddon’ didn’t dampen students’ spirits
Remember the days when you wished the schools would close and the buses were cancelled due to bad weather? Usually it meant spending more time making snowmen and snow angels, finished off with a warm hot chocolate at the end of the day, and the mountains of snow to be shoveled just meant piles of fluffy stuff to make forts.
The spirit of a ‘snow day’ was rekindled at Western as students coped with school closures and cancelled classes.
As soon as it was announced the university was closing, Peggy Wakabayashi, director of residences, thought about the 4,350 students living in residence. She met with the Housing senior leadership team to put the “Emergency Winter Storm Procedures” into effect.
Aside from putting the official procedures in place, residence staff members and residents’ councils brainstormed ideas to help keep students busy. For example, Perth Hall held a holiday card decorating session, a snow fort competition, football game, Christmas caroling, and watched the Glee holiday special. Other residences held snowball fights, went tobogganing, and students pitched in to help cover shortages at residences front desks, cleared snow off staff vehicles, and some even washed dishes.
“What was fascinating was the large number of students who participated in these various activities. Certainly, residents used the time to study and prepare for exams, though they also made time to play in the snow,” says Wakabayashi.
“The Hospitality Services Unit Manager, the Physical Plant Supervisors and the live-in Residence Managers all worked together as a solid team within each residence to best look after the needs of the students and the staff in each building,” she adds. “We, in Housing, couldn’t do it without the strong support we receive from our campus partners,”
Stories from the snow banks
Saugeen staff members self-organized (as the Snow Bunnies) and tended to the cars of food services and PPD workers who came in to work on Tuesday and Wednesday. Every hour someone went out to shovel around the cars so that employees would be able to get out when they had to go home. A Perth Hall PPD worker talked about her pleasant surprise in how well the students were looking after the building even with reduced services in place (e.g. they were keeping things clean and picking up after themselves). As a matter of fact, the residents invited her outside to help them build their snow fort. Peggy Wakabayashi, director of residences
I left campus about 6 p.m. on Monday evening and by that time a lot of snow had accumulated and been blown about. My car had snow up over the trunk and hood. I had no shovel, but I did have a good snowbrush. So I was kicking and brushing thigh-high snow out of the way to get my car out. Along came two students walking between residences. They asked if I needed help; no I said, that would be all right. They left but five minutes later were back, insisting there is no way they’d leave me there and not try to help. Well with the three of us moving the snow in no time …the car was out!! They had no idea who I was, and sadly I don’t know their names. Thanks to one of our dons in Saugeen Maitland Hall and her friend; angels in disguise!! The upside was …they got a lift to where they were going (not that they expected it)! Gitta Kulczycki, vice-president (Resources & Operations)