2:00 p.m.

University officials had student concerns and the weather forecast in mind when they decided to cancel classes today.

“We originally had a delay to 10, but looked at the forecast and reevaluated,” U of L spokesperson Mark Hebert said.

According to spokesperson John Drees, concerns raised by students and community members played a role in the decision.

“University officials knew campus was safe, that parking lots and streets were cleared and sidewalks were cleared, and that’s why the decision was made to go ahead and have classes today,” he said. “However, after they announced the decision, they got feedback from students, got feedback from families and got feedback from people in the community. They got more information on neighborhood streets and legitimate concerns were raised about standing at shuttle stops and even more from people who had to get to campus.”

“After weighing all the concerns, they made the decision to go ahead and cancel.”

At UK, the student government was active in talking with administration about cancelling classes.

U of L’s SGA also appeared to play some role, sending a tweet last night which read “Students, we’re doing all that we can to advocate for you…,” and including a link to a complaint form.

“I know that SGA talked to the Dean of Students (Michael Mardis) about it,” said Drees.

As of right now, there has been no decision on tomorrow’s classes.

Update (8:00 p.m.): The university will be closed on Thursday, Feb. 19.

Original story (7:50 p.m.): Anyone on Facebook or Twitter will see that their classmates were up in arms about going to class tomorrow in the bitter cold.

U of L had announced that it will delay classes until 10 a.m., but temperatures are expected to remain cold throughout the day, leaving many students angry about walking across campus.

Here are some quotes from U of L’s Facebook page:

“EKU, WKU, and UK are called off for Thursday and Friday, I believe. This is ridiculous. I’m going to start regretting transferring here if this university doesn’t start using some more common sense in their decision making skills.”

“This is probably the most stupid decision that they could have made. NEGATIVE 30 outside, UofL. Students shouldn’t be walking to class in that. Hopefully professors are smarter than whoever made this idiotic call.”

“Are you serious? The world will not end if you cancel classes for the remainder of the week, which is in the best interest of the student body. This is very disappointing UL!”

“Anyone who is disappointed with UofL’s decisions about weather related closures and delays, feel free to email the Provost. She’s the one who makes the decision. Her email is: [email protected]”

According, to a tweet, SGA plans on advocating for students.

Some context:

Wind chills as low as 26 and a high of only 3 to 6 degrees and a low of -9 degrees. The National Weather Service has issued a wind chill warning.

In Lexington, the high will be 9 degrees, the low will be -11. The wind chill will be in the -20s. Richmond, Ky. and Bowling Green will experience similar, but slightly higher, temperatures.

Last year, when U of L cancelled classes on the first day of the spring semester, Jan. 6, the high temperature was 16.5 and the low was -3.5, according to Weather Underground. A weather advisory from that day states that the wind chill reached from -20 to -25 degrees.

The following is an excerpt from the Cardinal’s article from last year:

With a wind chill of -20 degrees throughout the day, everyone is advised to stay inside and stay warm with the dangers of hypothermia running extremely high. U of L sent out an email Friday evening with tips on how to face these extreme temperatures, urging students to stay inside if they can and what to carry with them if they absolutely had to go out.

Stay tuned to find out if classes will be called tomorrow.