As temperatures decrease, accumulation of snowfall is increasing across the nation. Out-of-state students who had yet to return to Oxford before the snow began are now struggling to arrive back in time for their first classes of the semester. Northern Mississippi and Oxford experienced fewer than a few inches of snow, but the east coast remains blanketed in feet of it.
Junior integrated marketing communications major Elizabeth Ervin lives in northwest Washington D.C., where over 20 inches of snow were recorded.
Ervin said she has rescheduled her flight three times due to cancellations. Her current flight has her arriving in Oxford barely in time for her final class of the day – if everything runs on time.
Snow freezes over bikes Friday in front of the union. (Photo by: Cameron Brooks)
“I’m emailing the teacher because, realistically, I probably won’t make it on time,” Ervin said.
Ervin received understanding feedback from her advisor but said she is still concerned about the two-week attendance policy that began last semester.
“I hope my professors are understanding because there is literally nothing I can do to make it to class,” Ervin said. “I don’t mind missing the syllabus, but I can’t get dropped from my classes because of this.”
Other students, like senior Alane Parris, hurried back Sunday to be back in Oxford in time to settle in before classes Monday.
Parris was visiting Charleston, West Virginia with her sorority sisters when the snow began late last week, delaying her drive back to Oxford.
“It snowed all day Friday and all through the night,” Parris said. “Saturday most of the roads were closed and finally Sunday morning we felt confident to leave. The trip should have been a nine and a half-hour drive but with conditions it turned into an 11-hour drive.”
The University has sent out multiple emails regarding the hazards of the winter weather. The latest email, announcing that the Oxford campus would operate on normal hours Saturday after having been closed Friday, included advice for students returning to campus.
The email urged traveling students to check the travel and weather conditions to plan accordingly. If the students felt unable to safely return to campus before their classes began, they were advised to contact their instructors personally.
The Crisis Action Team, the Emergency Management Administrators and administration are collectively responsible for making weather-related decisions such as delays and cancellations.
-Lana Ferguson
