Caelin Bragg
Advertising & Distribution Manager
Even with the entirety of the El Dorado campus being frozen over, Butler opted to keep classes open for most of it over the safety of students and faculty.
The week of Monday, Feb. 4 had a string of sleet and icy weather that led to most of campus being covered with a thick layer of ice that was a danger to anyone walking between classes, but that didn’t stop Butler from saying the conditions were ok enough for people to come to class. No number of warnings on the GrizzlySafe app will remove the ice piled on every path. And the sidewalks and paths on campus weren’t the only dangers either. The parking lots were just as bad and made driving around campus even more dangerous than walking.
Closing campus shouldn’t be some black magic, it should always be on the table when bad weather strikes. Butler should stop being so afraid to cancel classes. I understand there’s a balance that has to be struck of not canceling too many classes, but these courses shouldn’t come at the expense of students and faculty.
And if this just sounds like me complaining about having to go to class, I actually fell on Wednesday, Feb. 6 and banged myself up while walking to my car that morning because Butler didn’t seem to think it was necessary to close classes that day, so I have a personal complaint to Butler for that. And while I was still sore all day, I had to walk around in even more ice and risk potentially falling even more.
Butler did close classes on Thursday, Feb. 7, but that was only a third of what was necessary; they should have closed for all three days when the ice was at its peak. And they didn’t close the following day while the ice was still just as bad. I decided to not even go that day and ended up missing a quiz that I have to make up now, putting me behind on schoolwork, and that’s also ignoring that I missed lectures and chances to ask questions.
During my time at Butler, I’ve found that they have an aversion to canceling classes for weather unless it’s taken to the extreme, but extreme weather isn’t the only reasonable time to cancel classes. Classes are important, but not so important that safety should be at risk. Close classes a few more times, Butler. Students and faculty shouldn’t have to take the risk for a couple of lectures.