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SU cancels all classes Monday due to snow for first time in 18 years

By Dara McBride

UPDATED: March 7, 2011, 3:54 p.m.

CORRECTION: The original version of this article misstated the last time Syracuse Univeristy canceled a full day of classes. The correct date is March 15, 1993. The Daily Orange regrets this error.

All day and evening classes at Syracuse University have been canceled due to weather.

In an e-mail sent out to students just after 9 a.m., the university announced cancelation of all SU classes, including those at University College. Administrative staff are not required to come in, although Essential personnel are to report as normal if able to do so in a safe manner, according to the e-mail.

The university expects to be open as usual Tuesday.



All six dining halls, including Goldstein Student Center, remain open. All convenience stores in residence halls and the Schine Student Center, the Pages cafe in E.S. Bird Library and Kimmel Food Court are open and operating at regular hours. The Gallery, on the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry’s campus, is also open.

Bird Library is open at limited hours. The first floor desks will be open Monday in the Learning Commons, Reference, Laptop Loan and Access Service areas until 3 p.m., after which time the library will close. The library will reopen Tuesday at 8 a.m. The Science and Technology, Geology and Math libraries are all closed Monday.

The university first announced classes before 12:30 p.m. would be canceled and administrative staff would have a delayed opening until 10 a.m. in an e-mail sent out to students just before 7 a.m. Monday morning.

Due to the weather, all buses are running behind schedule, according to a message posted on SU’s Parking and Transit website. The Caz Limo Nob Hill service has been altered and all city Centro bus services will be running on the snow emergency routes. More detailed information on the changes can be found on the SU Parking and Transit website.

As of Monday morning, no events were listed as canceled on the university’s calendar. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo was scheduled to speak in Schine at 10:30 a.m. Monday, but has been canceled due to weather, according to a release from the governor’s press office.

This is the first time the university has canceled classes at the start of the day since 1993. On Feb. 14, 2007, classes after 12:45 p.m. were canceled, according to a Daily Orange article published that day. On Feb. 25, 2010, all classes after 2 p.m. were canceled due to weather.

A total of 13.4 inches fell, said Dave Nicosia, representative for the Binghamton, N.Y., National Weather Service station and the area—a big difference from when classes were canceled in March of ’93 because of 42 inches of snow. But so far, it’s been the fourth snowiest season for Syracuse, with a total of 173.5 inches falling since the snow season began July 1, Nicosia said.

University policy states that twelve inches of snow accumulation, with heavy snow falling continuously from 6:30 to 8:30 a.m. and a forecasted accumulation of over eighteen inches, may cause a delayed opening or classes to be canceled. Thirty-six or more inches of snow accumulating within a 24-hour period may also lead to canceled classes, the policy states.

SU News Services and the Department of Public Safety could not be reached for comment at this time.

The National Weather Service released a Winter Storm Warning and Hazardous Weather Outlook for Syracuse and surrounding areas early Monday morning, according to a release on its website.

Snow will taper down in the morning and by the afternoon there may be sun and high temperatures in the low 30s. Gusts of wind 10 to 15 mph are also expected.

ESF, which shares a campus with SU, did not cancel classes Monday, said Claire Dunn, communications director at ESF. Dunn said she was sure the administration considered canceling classes, but because road conditions appeared safe for students to travel and forecasts indicated weather would be fine during the day chose not to. Being a state institution, ESF is more reluctant than SU to close school, Dunn said. Dunn said she did not hear of any problems due to weather concerning ESF today.
 
The weather did affect other area institutions. In Ithaca, N.Y., Cornell University closed at 4:30 a.m. and reopened at 11:45 a.m. Monday, with classes resuming at 12:20 p.m., according to an e-mail sent to students. Ithaca College also chose to delay because of weather conditions, opening at 11:30 a.m., according to a notice on their website.

Other snow day notifications include:

• All scheduled catered events that have not been canceled will be delivered and/or staffed.

• SU Health Services is open.

• The Counseling Center is closed for regular appointments, but assistance is available in the event of a crisis. Students are directed to call 443-4715 if they require urgent services.

• Recreation Services and all fitness facilities are open today and will be operating at normal hours.

• Drumlins Tennis is closed Monday.

• The SU Bookstore is closed Monday.

dkmcbrid@syr.edu

Check dailyorange.com for more updates.





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