Due to the snowstorm forecast, Boston University issued an emergency alert late Thursday night stating the Charles River Campus would have a two-hour delayed opening on Friday.
Areas around Boston received about 7.5 inches of snow early Friday morning, according to the National Weather Service.
While many students may have taken this opportunity to stay up late studying on Thursday night, others were confused as to what affect the delay would have on their class schedule.
College of Arts and Sciences senior Erik Olson said he was unclear on when his classes would start after reading the alert email sent out Thursday night.
“I have no idea what it means,” Olson said. “I guess the first two hours of classes are cancelled, or all classes are pushed back two hours. I’m honestly just going to see if my teacher emails me about class.”
Other students said that while the email was helpful in informing them that there would be a delay, it was too vague to convince them that classes would be taking place on Friday due to the snow.
“At first I figured that I would just not attend my class since I only have one at 10 and it would suck to have to wait around if it was moved to 12 or turn around and leave if it was canceled,” said CAS junior Adrienne Yangas.
“I was confused. I still am confused,” added CAS junior Pamela Bilewicz, “My first class is at 11 a.m. so does that mean my professor won’t show up until 1 p.m.? I’m awaiting another e-mail or for the snow to physically stop me from leaving my apartment.”
Due to a flurry of emails received from confused students, Dean of Students Kenneth Elmore posted a follow-up to the initial alert email on his Twitter, clarifying what affect the delay would have on Friday classes.
The tweet, posted by Elmore early Friday morning, stated the Charles River Campus would open at 11 a.m., with all classes after that time taking place as regularly scheduled.
“I Tweeted out because I saw that people still had questions about their early classes and work, and in 140 characters I was able to be pretty clear about what the delay actually meant,” Elmore said in an interview.
After seeing Elmore’s Tweet, students with Twitter were relieved to find out when their classes would be starting as a result of the delay.
“The only reason a solid answer was discovered is because my roommate used Twitter to ask Dean Elmore the specifics,” said College of Communication junior Megan Lovallo.
However, some students without Twitter were still confused about the affect of the delay on classes.
“[The emergency alert] was incredibly ambiguous,” said Sargent College of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences junior Dennis Rocheleau. “I’m going to go to my classes, but I wouldn’t be surprised they were delayed two hours.”
BU spokesman Colin Riley said that the decision for the two-hour delay was based on actions taken by Gov. Deval Patrick to delay the start of both state and private business until 11 a.m.
“The governor asked both state and private organizations to delay the start of business until 11 a.m. and that was part of the consideration for the delay,” Riley said. “The two-hour delay was primarily for safety reasons for those faculty, students and staff who need to travel to campus.”
– Chris Gambon, Campus Editor
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