For the safety of hundreds of faculty, staff, employees and students, UNC should have closed operations and canceled classes far earlier than it did last week, starting by announcing it Tuesday night.
Winter Storm Pax had been forecasted to have a severe effect on Chapel Hill days ahead of time, and though the University did cancel classes after 1 p.m. Wednesday and eventually closed all offices, by that time it unfortunately created a dangerous situation for those trying to get home.
If administrators had planned on canceling classes for the afternoon, that should have been announced the night before at the very least.
This is the second time in two weeks of unusual weather that UNC waited until the day of the snow to announce anything. It is bewildering that UNC would disregard Gov. Pat McCrory’s and several state officials’ instructions Wednesday morning urging people to stay off the roads. Once again, UNC was also the last of the Triangle schools to communicate cancellations.
Moreover, many students received the Alert Carolina email at noon that classes were canceled from 1 p.m. on, yet offices remained open. Offices should have been closed right away, which obviously was realized when UNC closed all offices just two hours later.
By then, the damage was done, as heavy snow started hours earlier. Hundreds rushed to get off campus and get home on slippery roads. DPS officials said many employees had to spend the night in their offices or find housing on campus. The Carolina Inn had at least 10 UNC employees who were forced to get a room for the night.
Announcing earlier would have allowed people to make arrangements.
When a minimum of several inches of snow and ice is predicted days ahead of time, officials should be smarter than the storm.
