Snow In NoCo

The snowstorm hindered the ability of most St. Lawrence University students to travel back to campus as Thanksgiving break came to an end. Students traveling on Sunday faced treacherous road conditions, flight cancellations, and hours-long delays, questioning the administration’s decision to hold Monday classes.  

Assistant Vice President of Safety and Security and Emergency Management, Patrick Gagnon, stated that snowstorms are a routine occurrence in the upstate New York area, thus people are more prepared for them. “Definitely in this area and in New York State, they have a lot of snow clearing equipment compared to other areas in the country,” he said.   

Since the snow came so quickly on Sunday even the equipment became insufficient. 

Thus, Gagnon advises students driving their own vehicles to avoid traveling if they feel uncomfortable and to consider staying where they are until conditions improve.  

Charlotte Doellefeld ’28, like some students, chose to drive back to campus from Albany on Sunday to meet deadlines scheduled for Monday. “If classes were canceled or we had the option of online classes I would have stayed at home just for the peace of mind,” she said. Doellefeld noted that driving through the snow was scary. “At one point I pulled over to let the person behind me go so I could see their tire tracks and that was all I could see,” she remembered.  

The lack of visibility on the road created a major struggle for many students returning before Monday. “I was extremely anxious about it, and I was trying to ride the middle line so I could hear my car vibrating so I knew I was not going off the road because I couldn’t actually see where the road was,” said Kinsley Sampson ’28, who drove from Vermont. She constantly felt like she was going to crash.  

Other students encountered significant issues while returning by bus from New York City. “I had three different transfers even though my ticket was scheduled for one,” said Dylan Crooke ’26. The driver told him that the roads were blocked, thus the bus would only drive to Syracuse. “I didn’t even think to call safety and security to help me get back to school because the last time that I called them they denied me a ride due to it being during a holiday and rough road conditions,” he added.  

Crooke believes that the school should have provided an alternative, such as online classes. “If there wasn’t class on Monday and they really wanted us to be there, the school should have sent out a mass email allowing students to have a Zoom class scheduled for that day instead. I feel like SLU doesn’t think about the other parties,” he concluded.  

Dylan Bird ’27 was one of the students who decided to postpone the trip and drive on Monday instead. He thought the email sent out to students on Saturday needed to be reworked. “What I personally got from that email was come back to SLU and be safe while you’re doing it—take a blanket, a first aid kit and water with you, like are you kidding me?” he asked.   

Bird noted that he is aware of SLU history and classes never being canceled for weather reasons. However, “considering the fact that they knew most of the school would be driving on this day where they also knew that it’s very dangerous to be driving, I think it’s just like at some point maybe stop that tradition and cancel classes for a day,” he said. He wanted to attend class however; he was forced to email his professors about his absence. 

Though students believe classes should have been canceled on Monday, that did not happen. “I’ve been here 28 years and I’ve not seen them close this place because of a storm,” said Gagnon. He concluded that as Laurentians, “we continue to function as an institution.”