Finals’ snow day protected drivers from dangerous conditions

By Janna Smallwood

Whether a collective groan or a sigh of relief was heard when the university shut down during finals week, those who made the decision say it was the right one.

A snow storm that generated 10 inches of snow in one day was the cause of the Dec. 11 closing of NIU, keeping everyone but essential employees off campus and interrupting finals before they even began.

With wind gusts at 35 miles per hour, concern about dangerous road conditions was the deciding factor in closing down NIU. Monday finals were moved to the same time Friday, with Friday finals bumped to Saturday.

Several people were involved in making the decision, though the final say belonged to NIU President John Peters.

“It was a very difficult decision, but I believe it was an appropriate decision,” Peters said. “We had a report that we’d have very severe weather conditions, and it would be very bad for those driving.”

Peters said the safety of commuters and the fact that it was finals week were both considered when making the decision.

The final decision to close the university was made at 6 a.m., Peters added.

Staff meteorologist Gilbert Sebenste agreed that the right decision was made.

“It was generally received very well,” he said. “The weather was going to be so bad that afternoon that students driving home would be seriously in danger.”

Conditions were so extreme that the Physical Plant’s anemometer, which measures wind speed and direction, was partially frozen, Sebenste said.

Sebenste had kept close watch of the impending situation the day before, staying up all night Dec. 10 to monitor the weather situation. He made the initial call to Steve Cunningham, associate vice president of administration and human resources, at 4 a.m.

Cunningham said in most situations students, faculty and staff should use good judgment about driving to campus, but because people may have made an extraordinary effort to come to campus during finals, it was necessary to make the decision for everyone’s safety.

“We didn’t want to bring students, faculty and staff to campus and then turn them back early into the storm,” he said. “We wanted to take the guesswork out of it.”

The Office of Campus Recreation, not necessarily an essential office, remained open because employees were willing to work, Cunningham said. Also, those deciding on the closing wanted to give students something to do during the snow day.

Eddie Williams, senior vice president of finance and facilities, said a decision tree involving several offices is used to conclude what is best for NIU in such situations.

“We’re very much in tune with the weather,” he said. “The information we were receiving was that roads were dangerous, the snow was going to continue and conditions would make roads hazardous.”

“We’re happy nobody got hurt, and there were no accidents,” he added.

Williams’ office received calls commending the decision from grateful students who didn’t want to drive in the dangerous conditions.

Melanie Magara, assistant vice president for the Office of Public Affairs, said the situation was unique because the entire university closed down, as opposed to just cancelling finals.

A few essential service personnel, such as police, residence hall food service, Physical Plant and snow-removal employees had to brave the weather, she added.

Once the final decision was reached, it was up to Magara to communicate the information to the NIU community.

Information about the closing was posted on NIU’s Web site, as well as the weather hotline, 752-OPEN, Magara said.

The local media also were informed of the closing. All alerts were posted within 45 minutes of the decision, she added.