KU’s Lawrence campus remains open despite winter storm

Olivier Desbois | KUJH News

On Monday, KU’s first snow of the winter coincided with students returning from Thanksgiving break. With just one week before finals, the university chose not to cancel morning classes despite the conditions.

In a series of Facebook posts, the Lawrence Police Department said that they responded to between six and eight non-injury crashes every hour from 6:45 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. and urged people to stay home. Lawrence’s buses were also an issue, with many routes being delayed.

“On campus the roundabouts, people’s cars got stuck, my car got stuck,” sophomore Sophia Neat said. “I was late to class—30 minutes late—and we had a quiz, and they didn’t cancel.”

Some students decided for themselves that it wasn’t safe to travel to campus.

“I didn’t go to class because my roommates both got stuck on their way here, and like posted that they saw accidents, and I didn’t wanna drive my car,” Sophomore Allyson Tuck said.

According to storm reports from the National Weather Service, Lawrence received four and a half inches of snow, two of which were already on the ground by 9:35 a.m. With snow continuing to fall, KU sent out an alert to close campus at one o’clock.

KU’s inclement weather policy states that when forecasts or conditions could be hazardous, the KU Police Department and Facilities Services are consulted and the chancellor or provost decides whether or not to close campus by 5:30 a.m.

When asked to specify their decision-making process, the Office of the Chancellor reiterated the statements in their inclement weather policy.

“There is a disconnect from KU,” Senior Brennan Ragan said. “They’ll plow their streets and salt the campus roads, but everywhere around campus is still unplowed, unsalted, the sidewalks are all icy.”