OCU students and staff were given their first snow day of the calendar year.
Oklahoma City received 4.5 inches of snow, according to msn.com. This topped the record of 2.3 inches set in 2002.
An email went out to students and staff at 4:33 a.m. on Feb. 5.
“Oklahoma City University is closed today due to inclement weather,” the email read. “Some scheduled rehearsals may continue. Please check with your rehearsal leaders.”
Kaley McConnaughey, music theater/vocal performance junior, was in the rehearsal process for “June by the Sea” at the time, a show that performed Feb. 8-9. McConnaughey said she was nervous about rehearsal possibly being canceled.
“It was a bit worrying to our cast, as it was our last dress rehearsal in Petree. Luckily, Dr. Herendeen sent us an email allowing us to continue as planned with whichever students felt safe enough traveling to participate,” McConnaughey said. “Of course, everyone showed up, and we all had a nice day of rest and relaxation under our belts, so it was a win-win.”
According to an article on koco.com, many schools in the Oklahoma City public school district closed for Feb. 6 as well, while schools in Edmond reopened.
Hannah Kimball, design and production senior, said she enjoyed her snow day and woke up early to take photos of the campus covered in snow.
“I think the best part was just taking these pictures, because the whole experience was so tranquil,” Kimball said. “I woke up early to walk around campus as the sun rose so I could see the snow before it got messed up by people’s footsteps and by workers that would eventually shovel it to the side.”
Katherine Abel, acting junior, started a Facebook event called “Pouring Water Over the Campus,” a joke encouraging students to go outside at midnight to pour water on the sidewalks in an attempt to make the campus too icy for class the following day.
“I just really wanted to bond the students together after only a few people went to vacuuming up the salt the night before,” Abel said. “Unfortunately, school was still on, and I ended up slipping multiple times due to my own event.”
Hannah Kilpatrick, opera performance graduate, said she went to Scissortail Park and had a snowball fight.
“Somehow we ended up at a karaoke bar by the end of the night,” Kilpatrick said.
Ellen Roth, finance/economics/Spanish senior, said she is from Oklahoma and has experienced multiple snow days in the past.
“On the snow day, I just hung out. I never have class on Wednesdays, and I’m usually more productive, but yesterday I just watched ‘The Bachelor’ and did nothing,” Roth said. “When I was younger, I used to like playing outside, but now I’m okay. I’d much rather observe it from the window.”
Hunter Semrau, music theater sophomore, is from Medicine Hat in Alberta, Canada. Semrau said he was underwhelmed by the amount of snow OCU got.
“That was very little snow, and it’s like that from October to March every year,” Semrau said. “I had a nice time though, but it was weird because I’ve never had school canceled before because they make you go no matter what.”
Lauren Leppke, theatre and performance sophomore, said she used cardboard as a sled and made a snowman with her friends.
Leppke said the snow day made her feel nostalgic.
“Sometimes when you see snow, you kind of just turn into a kid again, and it was so nice to have a break and throw snowballs at my friends and drink hot chocolate,” Leppke said.
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