Snowed In? Some Students Are Upset UWM’s Campus Didn’t Close

University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee students awoke on the morning of Jan. 23 to a thick layer of snow coating the roads and sidewalks, but, to the distress of some, classes went on as planned.

Running public transportation contributed to UWM’s decision to stay open on Wednesday, according to Michelle Johnson, senior director of Integrated Marketing & Communications for UWM. Other key factors considered were plowed roads and shoveled sidewalks, she said. However, the decision not to cancel classes, which was ultimately made by Chancellor Mark Mone, wasn’t popular with some students.

The roads and sidewalks surrounding the UWM campus were blanketed in ankle deep snow. Salt attempted to combat forming ice, resulting in a layer of gray slush. A chorus of bristles scraping against snow-covered windshields and disgruntled murmurs rang throughout the upper East Side. Some students never made it to campus. Some braved a treacherous commute by bus, car, or foot.

“Being a commuter school, UWM should prioritize the safety of its students,” said UWM sophomore Jack Kovnesky. “I almost got in an accident on my way to the park and ride. A lot of streets were not plowed. Overall, it was a pretty miserable time considering that some parts of campus were not shoveled as well as they could be.”

“While most students live on or close to campus, we realize that there may be some who commute a significant distance, and we rely on students using their discretion in deciding whether or not to drive to campus,” Johnson said.

The Milwaukee County Transit System buses were running as usual, though. Hordes of students up and down Maryland Avenue dragged their boot-clad feet through banks of snow to board awaiting buses to campus.

UWM’s provost and vice chancellors for Finance and Administrative Affairs and University Relations and Communications discussed the forecast, road conditions and snow removal capabilities at 5 a.m. Wednesday, Johnson explained. Mone finalized the decision to not cancel classes. When campus does close due to weather conditions, the university sends a Safety Awareness for Everyone (S.A.F.E.) Alert to students and staff via text message and/or email.

UWM African and Africa Diaspora studies major Ayanna Bost believes that UWM should have been closed due to the snowstorm “primarily because a lot of students are commuters.”

“For me, I live 30 minutes away,” she said. “Overall, just for the safety for students who commute and even students that walk to school.”

The policy of weather closures offers more details about what’s supposed to go into decisions. “While the decision rests with the chancellors, the effect of a complete institution closing on a university community makes it preferable to ensure that institution remain open to all staff, if at all possible, even where the cancellation of classes or public events is necessary,” the policy explains.

UWM considers the following factors when deciding to close campus: campus conditions, transit availability, the cancellation of public schools and universities in the surrounding area and road conditions, according to UWM’s procedures for the cancellation of classes due to weather. You can read the policy here:

When campus does close due to weather conditions, classes are cancelled within a specific timeline, so students can expect when to know if classes are canceled or not. For example, morning classes should be canceled by 6 a.m. preferably, and no later than 6:45 a.m. Some students felt they should have been on Wednesday.

“Students and faculty who must commute are put in dangerous situations due to road conditions and visibility,“ said Shawna Haskins, a UWM Senior and Journalism and Media Studies major. “I live out in the farmland. I don’t even have streetlights.”

She added: “I had to miss both my classes yesterday and now I feel like I’ve started my semester out on a bad foot. I feel like commuters are pushed to the back burner sometimes.”

However, not all members of the UWM community were discouraged by the weather. Neil Gravander, an associate lecturer in the Department of Film, Video, Animations, and New Genres, wasn’t surprised that UW-Milwaukee didn’t close.

“It’s a manageable, expect(ed) amount of snow,” Gravander said. “I mean, it’s snow, it’s Wisconsin. It’s going to happen.”

The dirty slush sloshed under boots as students hustled to their classes of the new semester. Plow blades could be heard scraping the pavement as they created snow mountains next to stop signs and along sidewalks. A custodian pushed an office chair along an icy walkway. The chair had a bag of rock salt on it. She threw the salt onto the pavement as she pushed the chair along. She was not wearing a jacket. Snowflakes continued to fall from the cloudy skies.

Some schools made different choices. The nearby school of Fox Point-Bayside was one of the schools in the area that did close on Wednesday. The school attributed reports from the National Weather Service to its decision to close for the day.

The snowstorm wasn’t unusual for Milwaukee at this time of year. Since Jan. 1, the Milwaukee area received about eight inches of snow, which is two inches below average, according to the National Weather Service’s climate report. Typically, Milwaukee expects almost 11 inches of snow with low temperatures at 15 degrees.

It wasn’t only the snow that was a problem. The cold wind chills forced students to rush inside of UWM’s Bolton Hall as snowflakes showered over their face and coats. The snow was somewhat plowed but piled in corners on campus. Students walked carefully and slowly in fear of slipping on ice and slush but maintained their balance as they were headed off to their next class.

Meteorologists predicted four to eight inches of snow would fall over Milwaukee on Wednesday. The National Weather Service even issued a winter storm warning but also noted that “widespread impactful snow will wind down by noon,” according to its forecast.

Milwaukee Public Schools made a similar decision to UWM’s and stayed open.

A policy regarding weather-related school closures can be found on the Milwaukee Public Schools’ website. According to the administrative procedure, the decision to close schools due to dangerous weather conditions is ultimately left up to the superintendent. Should the decision be made to close down schools for the day, local media will be informed between 5:30 and 6:00 a.m. on the day of the closure. Closing schools relies on the information provided by multiple sources: The National Weather Service, the City of Milwaukee fire department, police department, and transportation services.

“I think MPS should’ve canceled classes because the lives of students were at risk,” said UWM junior Jefry Prado. “I saw that many other school districts canceled classes, and I think Milwaukee had a lot more snow than other districts so they definitely should have canceled.”

Some UWM courses canceled even though the university was open.

“I think my class got canceled because it was an evening class and no one wanted to drive under unsafe conditions,” said Miranda Saitoski, a Biomedical Science student.

UWM student Cassie Bretl believes even a delayed start would have been more convenient for students coming back to campus after the winter break.

“I think they should be more mindful of what students are having to tackle to get to class,” said Bretl. “It is the first week, it’s syllabus week, so it’s important for students to get organized.”

The city issued 1,950 parking citations Tuesday night during the city’s snow operation, Milwaukee Department of Public Works Public Information Supervisor Brian DeNeve said.

“Overall, there was better compliance of alternate side parking this time,” DeNeve said. This is a stark difference to Friday night’s snowstorm when the city issued over 4,000 citations. Each alternate side parking citation is $40. He attributed the compliance to a heavy media push by the DPW.

Overnight on the 22nd, the City of Milwaukee deployed 285 vehicles to plow and remove ice from the roads, according to DeNeve. Starting at 4 a.m., during this particular storm, the plow vehicles targeted arterial roads in order to prepare for the rush hour. At 9 a.m., the vehicles then began to prioritize residential and smaller streets, hopefully when the majority of vehicles are away from their street-side parking spots. This strategy is subject to change when the storms are more or less severe depending on the most efficient way to plow, DeNeve added.

Kennedy Glembin, a UWM junior and anthropology major was among those surprised the university remained open.

“UWM has a lot of commuters,” she said, echoing the thoughts of many interviewed. “The traffic was bad, and the roads were trash. I used to drive 30 minutes to get here. I’m glad I live closer now.”

However, Glembin does believe UWM’s snow cancellation policy and email correspondence to students is effective.

“I didn’t get an email or hear anything about a cancellation, so I showed up.”

This story was written by JAMS 320 student Marla Smith with reporting and writing from the Media Milwaukee student journalists listed below.