2021 Gumbo final - Book - Page 110
110
winter weather
W
hen the University announced that students
would not get the Mardi Gras break they were
used to due to COVID-19, Mother Nature said she
had some other ideas.
Originally, students were to have Mardi Gras Tuesday off
only, and would have to come to class Monday, Wednesday,
Thursday, and Friday. However, the weekend before the
beloved Louisiana holiday, weather forecasts started to get
colder and colder.
A cold snap dropped temperatures in Baton Rouge as
low as 19 degrees Fahrenheit. The roads froze over, and ice
brought down tree limbs and power lines all over the city.
LSU announced classes would be cancelled on Monday, but
as the week went on, conditions did not improve enough for
the University to feel it was safe to hold classes. So, students
got a full week off school.
The cold snap affected Louisiana and Texas as well as
other southern states, so students who had gone home over
the weekend were unable to return to campus. In addition,
many of the sorority houses down the row had the power
knocked out for several days, which left some students with
nowhere safe and warm to stay.
“Residents were asked to evacuate as soon as possible,
however a lot of us had nowhere to go and no way of getting
there with the roads being frozen,” said Phi Mu house
resident Kenlee McHugh.
Students who were unable to travel to a friend or family
member’s apartment were given somewhere to stay by the
University, including dorms in Kirby Smith Hall.
Before the weather got bad, LSU Residential Life urged
students to get enough non-perishable food items and
bottled water for three days and secure extra blankets and
warm clothes. The 5 and 459 Commons remained open for
students as well as Take 5 and the Market at 459 Commons.
While the ground was frozen over and classes were
cancelled, students stuck on campus looked for something to
do. Soon, there was a video circling social media of students
sliding down the Campus Mounds.
The Mounds are over 5,000 years old and are possibly
the oldest man-made structure in North America, and
Native American students have been fighting for decades
for better protection of this important historical site. The
Native American Student Organization put out a statement
in response to the video, condemning the actions of those
students.
“These structures are culturally significant to our school,
state, and country,” said NASO president Leigh-Anne
Thompson, “Having them appropriately honored and
protected is a priority.”
The power returned to all of the Greek houses by Friday,
and as the weather warmed back up to the temperatures
Louisianians are used to, LSU returned to normal operations
by Saturday, Feb. 20.