By: Joseph Zuniga
Students shared experiences and expressed concerns about why Dominican chose to stay open on Friday, Jan. 23, despite the frigid cold weather.
Weather conditions in the Chicagoland area reached a dangerous low of –10° Fahrenheit, with wind chills of around -20° to -40°, according to ABC7.
Chief Financial Officer Mark Titzer, after consulting with other faculty and staff, made the choice to keep both Dominican campuses open.
Titzer explained that the reason Dominican stayed open was that faculty and staff felt that the building was operating properly and sufficiently to combat the cold internally and keep students and classrooms warm enough to resume classes like normal.
Additionally, another reason for Dominican staying open was that the weather did not cause conditions that obstructed travel to school.
“The cold can be dangerous and troublesome from getting to and from places, but it’s not like ice and snow,” Titzer said. “We’re concerned when people can’t get to and from campus safely because of ice and snow. But also, you really want people to stay (out of the roads) and out of the way of Public Works, who are cleaning the streets, but that wasn’t happening.”
Students across campus and on Fizz voiced their concern about the weather, and many mentioned how most public schools and universities were closed because of the weather, including Triton and Concordia, the neighboring universities.
One anonymous user wrote, “Dominican has got to be a joke. We have closed for temps that weren’t as cold as today.”
Namely, there was an instance about two years ago that caused Dominican to close under identical conditions to Friday.
However, Titzer believes every situation is different, and it comes down to a ‘judgment call’ based on varying circumstances.
Some students had a more difficult time getting to school than others, as some had to take public transport to school.
Senior Jafeth Lobo shares his experience of traveling to Dominican on Friday.
“I’m a commuter, so I came (to Division St.) by bus, and I walked from Division all the way over to Dominican,” he said. “It was very difficult (for me) to show up.”
“It was about a 15 to 20-minute walk… Little by little in this type of weather, you can start to have some type of frostbite, and I felt it in my legs,” Lobo recalled.
Lobo remembers hearing warnings of frostbite prior to Friday.
“There are so many warnings throughout the whole city. Be careful when you go out.”
Sophomore Ameyally, is another student who had to take public transport on Friday. She waited patiently at 6:30 in the morning for an email confirmation stating that Dominican is closed. That email never came.
“I was mad at first, like my younger sister and older brother didn’t have class,” she said. “I’m a commuter… I get dropped off in the mornings, and in the afternoons, I take the shuttle bus and the CTA.”
Sophomore Bryan Galvan Zepeda didn’t face much adversity in getting to school on Friday as he was dropped off at school, but he empathizes with those who take public transport.
“Some people can’t drive,” he said. “(Dominican) should consider them too.”
Director of Campus Safety Sasha Santiago shares that the shuttle bus is always active and capable of taking plenty of riders who need it to get to Dominican safely. On Friday, it was used by around 30 riders, which is lower than normal use.
Santiago urges students to work around these circumstances and take actions that result in the best outcome for their academic success and personal well-being.
“In these situations, it is always best to use discretion and make the best personal decision for your unique situation,” she said. “For some, that might mean staying home; for others, that means coming to campus. And for those that needed to come to campus, I was happy that we were able to keep the buildings safe and warm enough for students to use them.”
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