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University of Louisville Provost Shirley Willinghanz is to be commended for how she, and the rest of the administration handled the unprecedented ice storm that hit Louisville last week.
In an e-mail from November, Willinghanz explained “that weather calls are based on my assessment that the university can function safely, and that general conditions in the city make travel possible.”
This was a debilitating storm. In Louisville alone, 200,000 homes lost power, most for many days. Thousands others were unable to leave their homes, their cars snowed in or blocked by fallen trees and power lines. The university rightly decided to cancel classes for four weekdays – not an easy decision, but one that had to be made.
However, should the university have canceled its classes sooner? It should have been clear from the original forecasts that the road conditions would be unsuitable for class Tuesday, and the administration could have canceled class Monday evening, rather than forcing thousands of students to go to bed, and wake up in the morning unsure as to whether they would have class, with thoughts of the confusion surrounding last fall’s windstorm swirling in their heads.
The administration bungled the response to the remnants of Hurricane Ike, by holding class and opening school as scheduled the Monday after the windstorm.
That storm caused 300,000 Louisvillians to lose power, this storm 200,00.
The administrations philosophy in September was the university should stay open as long as it physically could.
We denounced their decision then, but feel they got it right this time.
It is important to recognize that it is not just the condition of the university that should matter, but just as importantly, the condition of the students.
The university lost money last week from decreased food sales, and class calendars everywhere were thrown into a frenzy, but this was an extremely rare circumstance, and warranted an equally rare response.
The university’s willingness to open the SAC to the community to use its (extremely limited) dining options, showers, wall outlets and heat is also commendable.
In the university’s quest to become a “premier metropolitan research university,” it should never forget the metropolitan Louisville area, and should give back to it, especially since 47 percent of its students hail from Jefferson County.
It is encouraging to see the university learn from its mistakes, and take students’ circumstances into consideration this time around. A university has an obligation not only to educate its students, but to also not subject students to an unsafe environment.
