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Andrew Blain, Andrew Hawk, Jentry Blain, Jarrett Blain, and Albert Ruffcorn were the winners of the "OKWU Iditarod," a spontaneous race that took place on Friday morning after classes were canceled. Their first-place win won a pizza party for Upper Scott Hall residents. (JJ Veale)

By Tirzah Lily
OKWUeagle.com Staff Writer

Thursday afternoon, complaints about classes being canceled ran rampant on the campus of Oklahoma Wesleyan University.

Most Tweets and Facebook statuses questioned the closure because there was no precipitation on the ground, let alone falling from the sky. Who would have thought so many would complain about not having school? For Ryan Helland, a freshman from Montana, the cancellation was his first ever snow day, so he had no complaints.

When students woke up on Friday morning, they were greeted by big snowflakes, accumulation on the ground, and the message that classes were scheduled as normal.

Another message came out in the nine o’clock hour that classes and regular university operations were cancelled beginning at 10 a.m.

Students were once again bewildered. Comments by those who had 8 a.m. and 9 a.m. classes ranged from disappointed to anger since classes were not cancelled until 10 a.m.

The lateness of the decision disappointed Krista Racquel, junior, who lamented, “I really wish that they would have made the announcement sooner like the night before instead of doing it last minute. That way we wouldn’t have had to get up early for our morning classes for nothing.”

So what goes into the decision to close the university for a snow day?

This group took full advantage of the snow day and went sledding in a nearby neighborhood. Front: Kandis Taylor, Brooke Poplin and Cyndi Rothfuss Back: Jake Fink, Jamie Rovenstine, Ashley Brown, Robert Brown, Emily Davis, Ashley Colliver, Adam Fratzke and and Janette Young (Photo courtesy of Marc Tappert)

President Dr. Piper and Dr. Robert Myers, Vice President for Academic Affairs, make a joint decision based on radar, weather notifications and road conditions.

“In our concern for safety, we canceled classes… We received reports from the Tulsa campus [on Thursday] that icing was already occurring there and the radar showed it was headed our way,” Meyers said.

Undergraduate students who live on campus are not as affected by weather conditions. When the weather turns severe, it is relatively easy to leave class and walk to the residence halls.

However, OKWU faculty, staff, and commuter students have to drive to and from campus. This is when Piper and Myers consider road conditions. Myers emphasized that “the most important consideration is the safety of our students, staff and faculty.”

Hannah Hopkins, a senior, off-campus student, did not chance the weather on Friday and stayed home instead of coming to class.

“If they don’t cancel classes in an iffy situation, it’s not fair for students who live off-campus to get to classes safely. Students who live on campus have a better chance of staying safe in inclement weather since they can simply walk in the snow or ice,” Hopkins said. “There are a lot of intimidating hills on all the main roads to campus. I grew up in Oklahoma, and I’m not good at driving in icy weather since we don’t have it often enough to get practice.”

So why were classes not cancelled until 10 a.m. on Friday? Piper and Myers were out driving the roads early on Friday morning assessing the conditions. Since the roads were passable, they made the decision to continue with classes.

When the snow began to accumulate as it fell, they made the decision to close school at 10 a.m. This allowed off-campus students, staff, and faculty to get home safely before conditions worsened.

Hailing from South Dakota, Michelle Sanger said “Only people from up north can truly understand a snow day. That cancellation was nothing.”

Of course, school cancellations put many classes behind schedule. When question as to how faculty deal with this, Professor Hughes said, “It’s all about being creative!”

For the latest updates and cancellations at OKWU, visit OKWUalert on Twitter.