Hurricane Sandy shuts down schools in the Northeast for extended times

While Chapel Hill experienced no more than high winds and a drop in temperature when Hurricane Sandy hit land Monday, students at universities across the state and the Northeast are still waiting for normal campus life to return.

Some universities canceled classes, while others extended application deadlines for prospective students.

Duke University pushed back its Nov. 4 early decision deadline to Nov. 9 to accommodate students affected by the storm.

Early decision is an admission process where applicants make a commitment to their first-choice institution and guarantee that they will enroll if admitted.

“In circumstances out of applicants’ control, we will change the deadline,” said Sandy Davis, who works for Duke’s admissions office.

Notification of the change was made on the university web page and through social media, she said.

UNC-CH’s early action applications — which do not require students to enroll if admitted — were due on Oct. 15 and thus not affected by the storm.

The storm also shut down some campuses.

Due to powerful winds and heavy snowfall, Appalachian State University was forced to cancel all classes after 6 p.m. Monday night and all day Tuesday.

Students were notified of class cancellations on Monday night and again on Tuesday morning as conditions worsened.

Located in Boone, ASU experiences snowfall each winter, but Sandy brought more than snow to the area, said Jane Nicholson, spokeswoman for ASU.

“The depth of snow throughout the county ranged from 2 inches to 6 inches, but it was the very high winds and the condition of the roads (that led to the cancellation of classes),” she said.

While a fence at an athletic complex fell due to wind, no academic buildings experienced damage, Nicholson said. Classes resumed Wednesday morning.

“Our job is to make sure both students and faculty were safe, and I believe we did that,” Nicholson said.

Many universities in the Northeast are still waiting for power to return and for classes to restart.

At Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Penn., campus has been evacuated since Monday, and students don’t expect classes to resume until next Monday at the earliest.

“All buildings lost power and none of the street lights work,” said Lehigh junior Kate Novick, adding that students either left campus to go home or stayed at a nearby facility set up by the school.

“People were enjoying it at first, but now we just want school to start up again,” she said.

Contact the desk editor at state@dailytarheel.com.