How Did Students at CUA and the DMV Spend Their Snow Day?

Image Courtesy of Forbes

By Zachary Lichter

Last Tuesday, CUA observed an Administrative Monday, which meant that instead of students going to their Tuesday classes, they went to their Monday classes. As students began another week at CUA, their professors informed them on Monday, February 10 about a snowstorm expected the next day and what their instructional plans were for Wednesday, February 12. So, since the snowstorm happened on February 11, some of their classes would get canceled or possibly shifted remotely.

The CUA community received an email at 9:29 p.m. on February 10 that the University was planning to close at 12:30 p.m. on February 11 because of the predicted snowstorm and that non-essential workers could go home. Professors were instructed to email their students about their plans to make up the class they would miss on February 11. Since classes after 12:30 p.m. were canceled, professors either held classes on Zoom or students had to listen to a pre-recorded lecture.

Allison Ewing, a junior computer science major, commented on her class schedule.

“I had one pre-recorded lecture on Tuesday,” Ewing said. “But both of my Wednesday classes were on Zoom at their regularly scheduled time.”

The snow didn’t start falling until Tuesday afternoon around 2 p.m., and it went into the evening hours. That day, Washington D.C. received 6.4 inches of snow. Besides CUA closing early, schools and government offices in the DMV also closed early, so people’s evening commutes weren’t affected. 

The snowstorm affected people’s Wednesday schedules for students at CUA, the DMV, and other people as well. For starters, at 9:23 p.m. that Tuesday night, the CUA community received an email that the campus would be closed. Professors emailed their students regarding shifting their classes to Zoom, or students were asked to listen to another pre-recorded lecture. Garvey Hall was the only place students on campus could get food, and they operated on a weekend schedule, meaning that it opened at 9 a.m. instead of 7:30 a.m.

In the DMV area, schools were closed because of the aftermath of the snowstorm. The D.C. Public School System began the school day at 10 a.m. Meanwhile, school districts in Maryland and Virginia, with the exception of Alexandria which had a virtual school day, canceled school. 

The snow left 150,000 customers  without power in Central and Southern Virginia. Besides power losses, the Virginia State Police reported 849 car crashes, leaving 87 people injured. Most of the crashes occurred in Fairfax County. The Maryland State Police reported 152 crashes in the Maryland portion of the DMV. The Metrobus in D.C., Maryland, and Virginia were also closed. However, the Metro was still operating on its normal schedule.

Despite the snowstorm complicating things, students made the most of their snow day. They went outside with their friends, went sledding, and built snowmen. They also took advantage of the time off by catching up on homework.

Ewing commented on how she took advantage of the snow day.

“A bunch of my friends and I had a giant snowball fight on the Opus lawn Tuesday night,” Ewing said. “I loved being able to forget about my work for an hour and just act like a kid again by pelting my friends with snowballs and joking around.”