Winter has once again outstretched its burning hand to greet us in the new year — not with triumphant horns or glasses raised to the heavens, but with a harsh cough and familiar indifference.
It leaves nothing but salt scattered to the streets and a population with their heads ducked under hoods.
I’ve always detested this season, especially as a lifelong resident of Kentucky. Our winters have an identity crisis, never quite knowing how to dress in the morning. It either freezes the liquid in your lungs or invites you out to the beach, all with a troubled, gray expression. As the last snow melts off of campus, students have yet to forget the inaction taken by the University of Kentucky.
I was made all too aware of this before I could get one foot outside. Bracing myself for last Tuesday’s negatives, I turned the door handle, only to find that I was trapped inside.
The ice had frozen my door shut, requiring three firm kicks to open. Additionally, my apartment failed to clear the parking lot, rendering my car useless and my legs a necessity. All of this, set to the tune of single-digit weather, left me extremely aggravated — a sentiment shared by the entire campus.
This outrage is nearly universal, with students flooding social media with pleas to cancel classes. Apps such as Yik Yak show images of snow-buried sidewalks and cancellation notices from other universities.
My own classmates speak of 30-minute walks due to delayed buses and icy backroads making their travels particularly dangerous. One student even posted that their own professor injured themselves on the ice, breaking two bones. This goes further than a desire to sleep in or laziness, this is a question of safety and well-being.
Thankfully, professors canceled several classes, including my own. While this is helpful, it is not their responsibility to carry the burden of the university’s mistakes. The safety of students should never be left in the hands of chance.
It is a demand an institution must handle with care and attention. What we have just experienced is willing negligence. This university did not stand tall on the snowy mountain, it buried itself under six inches of its own ignorance while the rest of the county was bundled up close to the fireplace.
A two-hour delay will not clear the roads, and it certainly cannot guarantee the safety of your students. Those in the dorms may be able to tolerate these conditions, but what of the commuters? Those who cannot afford jackets? Those in wheelchairs or crutches?
This campus is home to 30,473 students. Being a university requires the guaranteed safety of every attendee, especially those who spend thousands a year to be here. When the rest of the city goes into lockdown, ice decorates your sidewalks and temperatures drop into the negatives, you simply must act.
While the weather has momentarily cleared, we should all demand a better response should conditions worsen once more. The winters will continue to become more extreme, and I worry it will be too late once those in charge finally care.
