On Wednesday, January 17, and Thursday, January 18, snowfall caused Camosun College to cancel classes and close its doors at noon on both days.
Some students were happy with the college’s decision, but others were quick to question why it decided to open in the first place, criticizing the foresight of decision-makers.
Those students promptly took to Instagram to voice their concerns, like user @coltongaley, who commented “Stellar call! Lets risk the students safety by bringing them in, and then double down and send them back home…????” in response to Thursday’s closure announcement.
First-year Nursing student Jack Wilson says he’s concerned about the conditions he witnessed at Interurban campus on Wednesday, January 17. He wishes the college had closed on both days, noting that “Student safety should always be a priority over education.”
“Personally, I think that the college handled it with a little bit too much apprehension around their decision of keeping the campus open or closed,” says Wilson. “On the first day of closures… I had a lab class in the morning, and the parking lots weren’t cleared, there [were] people slipping up and down the driveway, kind of pulling up into the last entrance up to the campus. It was just a mess.”
Dental Assistant student Chelsey Walsh has similar concerns for student safety, saying that during her class on Wednesday, many students—especially those who live further away from campus—were anxious about getting home safely.
“You know, the first day, sure, call it, we can give them a free pass for that,” says Walsh. “But just going off how everything went that first day, it just didn’t make sense to make the exact same mistake over again. You know, look at the forecast, ‘Oh, it’s going to snow, let’s not put our students in danger by making them go in.’”
Indigenous Studies student Makenna Whetung also feels that there was a lack of foresight in opening the college campuses on both days, especially with Vancouver Island’s limited resources for snowfall.
“I felt like they didn’t handle it well,” says Whetung. “Being on Vancouver Island, we know that people aren’t really prepared for the snow, and we know that we don’t have the infrastructure to deal with the snow. So, I think them closing at noon the first day was really not good, and then the second day, they didn’t learn anything from that. I think it was just really unsafe.”
But Camosun executive director of communications and marketing Rodney Porter says that the decision to close campus is never taken lightly.
“We’re looking at the forecast, we’ve got folks on-site on campus, we’re looking at the buses, you know, we’ve got the news turned on, we’re watching social media, we’re watching all the other school districts,” says Porter. “We’re in touch with BC Transit at 5 am, 6 am; we know what’s going on. So, we made the decision on Wednesday to open campus based on the weather conditions at that time.”
Porter says the first thing taken into consideration during the decision-making process is the safety of the people travelling to campus. He says that the roads were fine on his drive in to work on Thursday, January 18, and points out that if the college were to close based on the weather forecast and it changed, it would be criticized for that as well. However, he acknowledges the upset students and says that the college is always willing to take feedback into consideration.
“I do appreciate and I do empathize with students,” says Porter. “Whether you’re driving or whether you’re taking public transit, I think it’s important that the college empathizes and realizes that it is… not just an inconvenience to students, we do have to take into consideration safety aspects like getting home. Especially, I think, it’s harder whenever you do a midday closure, as opposed to just saying ‘We’re closed.’ I realize that, and I acknowledge that.”
Camosun College Student Society (CCSS) executive director Michel Turcotte says that he doesn’t envy the people in charge of making the decision to close the school, because there will be criticisms either way. He does, however, think that there needs to be better protocol in place for students who can’t vacate the college right after a closure announcement.
“I think the college needs to work on a better plan for students that can’t leave immediately,” says Turcotte. “We got some complaints in relation to that. Apparently, on [Lansdowne campus] they left the Fisher building open for another hour, but I don’t think that was communicated to students, and it should be maybe a bit longer than that… That is a protocol that I think the institution and the CCSS has to work on in terms of letting students know there will still be a safe space for students to go.”