A local road in Martin, Tenn. covered in snow and ice Pacer Photo / Tomi McCutchen
The main campus of UT Martin was announced to reopen on Jan. 18, 2023 after weather conditions closed the school the two days prior. Student, faculty and staff returned to campus on Thursday morning and were met with some challenges navigating campus with ice and low temperatures. The campus was then announced to be closed again at 11:15 a.m. on Jan. 18. Social media posts and comments were filled with opinions on the situation. Some members of The Pacer staff decided to share their opinions and experiences with you all so hopefully this unfortunate day will serve as a learning experience for everyone if something similar happens again before the end of winter.
Aubrey Abbott, Videographer
As a commuter, snow days can be a hard topic. While I think it is important to have classes open for those who are on campus, I often find myself feeling like commuters are forgotten about. I especially felt like we were being left out on Thursday, Jan. 18, when UT Martin announced that the campus would be open. With my roads having turned to ice, I found myself having to email my professors and let them know that I would not be able to make it to class. Around lunch, UT Martin called off classes for the remainder of the day.
UT Martin needs to think about their commuters more. According to UTM’s Fall of 2023 Statistical Data Reports, over 34% of first-time students commute and 61% of undergraduates also commute. That is half of the student population (not counting graduate students)! With weather being a common issue that all schools must deal with, it is a topic UT Martin needs to improve on. UT Martin wants us to all be safe and would rather students stay at home if it is dangerous, but some professors might count a missed class against us. As a motivated student, I want to stay safe, but I fear getting behind in my classes.
As much as I love UT Martin and enjoy my time here, they seriously need to rethink their entire commuter system when it comes to weather. With so many students commuting from different areas, I think Martin needs to find a way to keep a check on them. They could check the weather forecast more, contact the police department, or even hire people to be staff weather reporters for each town. Overall, UT Martin needs to determine what is more important to them. Is it students coming to class or is it students staying safe in their homes during terrible travel conditions?
Payton Frimel, Co-Viewpoints Editor
When I woke up, I opened the blinds of the window in my dorm room, and the first thing I saw was someone slipping and falling on ice. My first thought was “Ouch! Was that really worth attending class?” By 11:30 a.m. UT Martin called off the rest of the school day. I am lucky enough now to have a schedule that allows me to sleep in a little on Tuesdays and Thursdays, so I was in the clear. But something tells me the students who slipped and fell on their way to class this morning are not as forgiving! I believe it would have been safer to open school the first half of the week than the latter. These are seriously dangerous conditions. I am glad the university will remain closed on Friday. Happy Tennessee Winter and stay home and warm, Skyhawks!
Madalene Sisemore, Editorial Assistant
The Jan. 17 announcement that classes would resume and the campus would reopen brought forth
a mixed array of disbelief, suspicion and downright doubtfulness of the university’s sincerity at this
proclamation. “Surely not,” was the general consensus, “They have a weather app, right?” The morning of Jan. 18 brought doubts to this question as well, as classes were left uncanceled. Defeated, somewhat sleep deprived, and—on some level—frightened for the wintry wasteland awaiting them, the students at the University of Tennessee at Martin made their pilgrimages to class. Oh, the horrors that eagerly expected them. The Quad became a battlefield between humankind and ice. Left and right victims were claimed to the cold, dark and incredibly hard pavement beneath them by the attacks of the much-feared freezing rain. To look out one’s window during class was to behold a comrade slip, struggle and fall directly on the cement. To walk across the grounds was to test one’s faith in his or her step. To fall was to accept one’s fate among the countless ranks of many who fell before, rising despondently, stripped of honor into a world of pain and shame. And the ray of hope that shone forth to all students at UT Martin brought few cheers, for no one could help but question “Why?” And why, indeed, in the first place was campus opened?
Trenton Michon, Co-Viewpoints Editor
We really did get hit with a one-two punch of snow and ice that week, but it wasn’t anything we hadn’t seen before. In fact, last year we had a wicked freezing rain and ice storm at the end of January that also closed the university down for three days. To their credit, in the days before the big freeze I saw maintenance workers dutifully salting all the major walkways around campus; but at a certain temperature not even salt can help thaw the thick layer of ice coating the ground. I understand where their decision to open the university on the 17th was coming from though, because no matter what you decide, you’re going to have people complaining. If you close down the university when conditions end up being passable, people (mostly Facebook commenters) will be upset that the school is closing for “no reason” and that they “never closed the university for snow when I was there!” But if you keep the university open, people will complain that they don’t care about student safety. If you guys thought we had it bad, I have a friend who goes to Austin Peay, and she told me they had to go to class Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday (with a two hour delay), despite the fact Clarksville got upwards of 6 inches of snow! I didn’t personally see anyone bust their tailbone on the ice, which may cloud my judgement, but personally I don’t see why they cancelled classes so late in the game. Besides, many professors already said they would be generous with taking attendance, especially with those who have to commute. (my apologies if your professor is one of the sticklers) The ice was already melting in spots, so you might as well commit to your mistakes or, you know, decide to never open the university to begin with. Oh well, who am I to play Devil’s advocate?
