A wave of upset swept BW’s student body on Jan. 21 and 22 when the university decided to keep in-person classes scheduled for the majority of the day, only cancelling in-person classes that occurred after 5 p.m. on Jan. 21 and before 11:30 a.m. on Jan. 22. 

The National Weather Service in Cleveland issued a cold weather advisory going into effect from 1 a.m. on Jan. 20 until 10 a.m. on Jan. 22 due to wind chills dipping below zero, according to News 5 Cleveland.  

These dangerously cold temperatures could have potentially caused frostbite and hypothermia from exposure, with frostbite on exposed skin occurring in as little as thirty minutes.  

“I am sensitive to the people who live in circumstances where they have to walk upwards of ten, twelve minutes to get from one side [of campus] to another multiple times a day…” Connor Defevers, a second-year BFA acting major, said. “Detrimental temperatures like that can lead to things like frostbite and skin irritation that will last much longer than those lower temperatures will be around for.” 

This sentiment was echoed by Liz Melville, a third-year sociology student who struggles with disabilities and chronic illness.  

“My family was genuinely concerned for my well-being out there because I can’t regulate temperature, and so I would go outside for a couple of minutes with gloves on, four layers, and I’d come back inside, and I would be blue,” Melville said. 

Students with disabilities often have a harder time moving around campus due to mobility aids, which lead them to being exposed to the cold weather for more time than the average student, Melville said. Because many physical disabilities can come with autonomic disabilities that disrupt their ability to regulate temperature, they are at higher risk for cold related illness. 

“Tuesday, I went out to class, and it was absolutely miserable. I was having joints lock up. I was having muscle stiffness,” Melville said, “but I got it a lot easier than a lot of my friends. One of them ended up in the ER with related issues from being out in the cold.” 

Melville said her friend is still feeling the side effects of the cold-related issues more than a week later. 

No additional accommodations were provided to disabled students during the severe weather advisory, Melville said, and the Jacket Access Van that is typically available to help disabled students get around campus was out of commission.  

“At what point are we going to say enough is enough, and actually try to prevent stuff like Tuesday and Wednesday from happening?” Melville said.  

BW’s attendance policy also affected the way students decided whether to attend class or not during the severe weather warning, with some students feeling pressure to prioritize attendance over safety.  

“With the Conservatory, every class is limited to two absences max, and if you go above that, you start to go down entire letter grades,” Defevers said. “So, yeah, I wasn’t going to take an absence. There was no way that that was in consideration because when you only have two per semester and some other emergency could actually come up, you can’t afford that.” 

Melville said that students with disabilities felt extra pressure to attend class on those days despite safety concerns, as they already used more absences than able-bodied students due to medical needs. 

“When BW doesn’t give us any slack…for something like really cold weather, we don’t have a choice. Either we stay [in], and we miss class material, and we miss points, or some people potentially fail a class because they may have already needed those absences prior,” Melville said, “or we risk it. We go out there, we suffer, and then we come back and just hope that it gets better tomorrow.” 

Senior criminal justice and psychology double major Lauren Golias encouraged students in the days leading up to the cold weather to email Interim President Greg Flanik with their concerns.  

“I think it’s important for us students to be able to speak about what is making us upset about the way the school’s running, and I think that the faculty and staff should give us the time and the attention to hear us out,” Golias said.  

Golias did not receive a personal response to the email she sent but rather received the same alert that went out to the entire school, assuring the student body that classes would still go on as scheduled on Jan. 21. 

“I think it was kind of weird that we all got an alert saying that classes were still going on. Why would you have to send that out unless there was an issue?” Golias said. 

Golias also said that she felt it was “dismissive” to students to keep the university open when surrounding universities and schools had cancelled their in-person classes fully during the cold weather advisory. 

“If everyone else around you is trying to make that decision for the well-being of the students, you probably should do the same,” Defevers said.