This morning I walked down the back stairs of my house and practically fell into the foot and a half of snow the was waiting for me on the driveway. I am a short person. Standing at 5'2" tall, 18 inches of snow is approximately 30% of my total height. Trudging through snow that was more than a quarter of my height to the end of my driveway, I began to see the perilous conditions that surrounded my immediate location. The end of my driveway had snow pile up that was pushed off the street, and stood almost half my height. The sidewalks hadn't been plowed. All around me people were digging their cars out of the snow.
Ten minutes before I stood at the end of the driveway taking in this year's first true blizzard, I received an email from my teacher, class was not to be cancelled that day. Fine, I thought, I can make it to class to get those participation points. By the time I trudged through the snow to the bus stop, typically a walk that takes five minutes, but that took me 15, my resolve was weakening. After waiting for ten minutes for a bus that was clearly not going to be getting there any time soon, I walked back in the direction of my house and towards campus. Walking over snow piles that reached my upper thigh, I made the decision to persevere and make it to campus. I could have walked back to my house, but at this point, I was so furious that there had been absolutely zero communication from the University of Rochester regarding the weather conditions, I wanted to prove how ridiculous it would be for me to try and get to campus.
By the time I made it to school, 35 minutes later, I had snow in the side pockets of my backpack, my jeans from the knee down were soaked through, my boots and socks were unspeakably covered in snow, and to really seal the deal on my unfortunate circumstances, I got an email 30 minutes before my class that I couldn't read because my phone was covered in snow, saying that in fact, class was cancelled. By this time, it was 11:30, and there was still no communication from the University of Rochester regarding the extreme weather conditions. Multiple other universities in the Rochester area are closed. The front entrance to campus when I walked by was being corralled by police and snow plows, with an officer saying that he thinks the campus would close soon, but no word yet.
There is something wrong with a university that prides itself on not canceling classes. Saying that you are proud of never canceling classes is literally saying that you are proud of endangering students, faculty, and staff. And, to not send an email until 1:00 regarding anything snow related is actually absurd. What kind of a school do we go to if it knows there is going to be 18 inches of snow and doesn't even say anything to its students? The Riverview buses today are looping every hour as opposed to every twenty minutes, something apparent if you live in Riverview, but to a commuter student would be hard to discern. No email. No communication. Monroe County issued a travel advisory this morning at around 9:00 am discouraging unnecessary travel. No updates from the University of Rochester.
We got an email from Dining Services before we got an email from the actual University of Rochester. An email which basically says that professors can cancel classes if they feel like it, but gives students no option to opt out of attending class if the weather conditions are too adverse. Essentially, if you're a professor and you feel like you'd be in danger if you tried to make it to campus, then it's fine, cancel class. But, if you're a student that feels like you'd be in danger to make it to campus, we're sorry, I guess you'll just get a zero for that lab.
Further, the email says buses are looping "with delays". I walked past someone today in Georgen upon arriving to campus who said they were walking faster than the Gold Line. That really doesn't sound like they are running "running according to schedule". Further, the classes for both the Simon School of Business and the School of Nursing are cancelled, but the classes for undergraduates aren't? In what world does that make sense.
The University of Rochester needs a reality check. To force students into attending classes on a day as bad as today is dangerous and irresponsible. I don't feel supported by my university at all. I am a commuter student because I already pay almost $60,000 a year to go to this school, and I can't afford to live in our overpriced student housing. I have the minimal, at best, resources to get to school on an average day; but on a day with 18 inches of snow, I have nothing except my own will power and snow boots. For a university that likes to consider itself progressive, we are clearly stuck in the past, and literally stuck in the snow.
