Students react to canceled classes, hope for second cancelation

Corryn Brock, News Editor

As students took shelter in residence halls, apartments and homes from the winter weather that left Eastern’s classes canceled Monday morning, many say they hope Eastern’s administration does the same Tuesday.

Provost Jay Gatrell said the decision to cancel classes was made after he drove around Charleston to see road conditions in the early morning.

“The decision to cancel classes is based on a combination of the current weather, the forecast, the observed roads, and campus conditions.  This morning I personally drove around the community to experience the roads and visited campus in the early a.m. to understand the then-current conditions,” Gatrell said. “In concert, these four factors were considered.”

He explained that the reason for canceling all classes rather than just those that are held in-person was to lessen the confusion with the variety of course types being offered.

“While many students are in online courses, the decision to cancel all classes was intended to reduce confusion.  Indeed, hybrid, hyflex, and other flexible pedagogies make it difficult to clearly differentiate between online and on-campus courses.  Further, some learners need to utilize campus-based computing facilities and thus still need to access campus to participate in online courses,” Gatrell said. “In the end, canceling all classes ensured consistency and clarity.”

Gatrell said the administration is reviewing the forecast for Tuesday and a decision has not been made on whether the university will cancel classes or not.

Freshman math education major Payton Ade said he believes classes should be held virtually if not canceled due to the anticipated weather conditions and temperatures.

Some students expressed concerns about walking around campus in the cold temperatures.

Madison Garner, a freshman psychology major, said “I most definitely think they should call off classes tomorrow because it is too much for all of us to be walking around.”

Others said they wanted a small break from the typical Tuesday routine.

Sidney Mayberry, a freshman elementary education major, said “I want classes to be canceled so we can get bundled up and play in the snow.”

Freshman art major Cooper Morrell said he believes the university should consider canceling classes beyond Tuesday.

“It’s good to have a day off and I think we should have a week off for the rest of the week as like a mental day, like to relax and think about our loved ones, but we can only hope for the best,” Morrell said.

Blake Meadows, a senior biology major, said she felt the day was closer to a wellness day than the ones the university has scheduled in place of Spring Break this semester.

“I felt like this was more of a wellness day than our wellness days because on our wellness days I feel as though there is still homework or work in general for my classes that needs to be done,” Meadows said.

She said the university should cancel classes because the weather progressively got worse throughout Monday.

Kayla Granat, a junior English secondary education major, said she agreed that day helped her reset more than the Wellness Days.

She said she is hoping for another cancelation because of what she has seen in forecasts for Tuesday.

Andrew Basco, a junior communications disorders and sciences major, was driving back from a weekend at home when classes were canceled and said he felt it was not bad enough to cancel classes Monday as he drove but as the snow continued he said he felt classes should be canceled Tuesday.

Issac Navarro, a sophomore music performance major, said he believes classes should be canceled, partly because of the condition campus.

“It’s a bit ridiculous as to how the university workers who clean the streets and sidewalks haven’t been keeping up or cleaning the outside terrain whatsoever. It’s really dangerous and not convenient for those who have to commute here as well as having to walk through six inches of snow just to get to class,” Navarro said.

Charlie Dumach, a junior music major, said she felt the cancelation Monday was necessary.

“The roads aren’t plowed and won’t be until the snow stops and it’s not supposed to stop until late tomorrow night,” Dumach said. “Clearly we should have tomorrow off as well.”

Kyara Morales-Rodriguez, Theo Edwards and Emilee Tosh contributed to this article.

 

Corryn Brock can be reached at 581-2812 or at [email protected].