By Michaela Gates, Staff Writer
I woke up for my eight A.M. class on Tuesday and given that I had checked the weather the night before and snow was in the forecast I had honestly assumed the weather had missed us. However, I looked outside and saw a solid coating of snow.
But, I was hopeful. I figured that perhaps the school had done a fantastic job at clearing the roads as well as the sidewalks. I, however, was wrong; I was way past wrong, in fact, I couldn’t have been more wrong.
Every single sidewalk was a sheet of ice, it was as if I was walking in a hockey rink. In my short walk from Ivy to SENG, I felt as if I was going to break my neck every second as I had foolishly worn boots instead of ice skates.
I am disgusted that our administrators thought that our campus as well as the surrounding towns had been adequately cleared of snow. We have just under 33 percent of our campus community listed as commuters and while I dreaded my short walk; I can hardly imagine the drive.
Despite the fact that I doubt our administrators will admit it, they compromised the lives of our students and faculty. Had a student or faculty member gotten into a car crash trying to get to work or class, it falls solely on the administration for not cancelling.
I value my education just as much as any student, however Tuesday I felt as if the people running our school cared more about drawing a hard line on snow days than our actual safety. I simply cannot fathom why not cancelling was a good idea.
I am not just whining because I simply wanted a day off, I just do not want to see anyone hurt. We are all hear at the is university to better ourselves and those around us and to a point I feel like this is something administration fully understands.
There is nothing that helps us achieve this goal as far as Tuesday of this week went. If anything, it was more of a hindrance. I am thrilled that the day ended with nothing more some aggravation, however a message was certainly sent to junior Stephanie Fitzgerald
“If we had a snow day on Tuesday, it would’ve had the message that the school really cared about our safety. Of course, we know the school does care, but its actions certainly did not show it this week.”
This school is currently facing an admissions problem as it was forced to close down a first year residence hall due to declining admissions. While this problem could be attributed to many things one could certainly argue that a large part is an administration that does not care as it should.
After all, Divina Grossman managed to squander about 10 million dollars in endowment during her tenure. To add to this, the last two years have been taken up by an interim chancellor, who as good as he was, was really nothing than a way for administration to kill time until they found someone new.
And while I do love our new chancellor as he is enthusiastic, a powerful speaker, and I truly believe means well; the fact is his actions did not reflect that Tuesday at all. I am not writing this article because I dislike Chancellor Johnson, in fact, the very opposite.
I think he is a breath of fresh air to this campus and I think he truly cares far beyond dollars and cents as many at American colleges do.
I also believe he will bring this campus to a place are beyond what many believe it can achieve and I want him as well as general administration was not at all working towards their goals for UMass Dartmouth.