FSU Late Announcement Leave Students Stuck in Snow

Frostburg State University was scheduled to resume classes for the 2023 spring semester on Wednesday, January 25, the same day a winter storm warning was issued. FSU sent out an email on Tuesday saying the weather forecast will be monitored, but no clear decision was made. The next morning, FSU opened the university despite the winter storm warnings being issued.    

Students received a Burg Alert email at 5:09 am stating the school will open as scheduled which resulted in students going out and making their way to classes. FSU then sent out another Burg Alert at 9:40 am issuing a cancellation for classes, but the campus remained open until 1:00 pm. During the duration of both alerts, some students found themselves stuck or in accidents due to unsafe road conditions.  

Adam Hastie, a student, wrecked his car on the way to his 10:00 am class only to find out that classes had been canceled. Adam says, “I just personally, think that FSU’s late closure put myself and others at risk for no real reason”.

Photos of Adams Vehicle Accident(Photo Credit: Adam Hastie)

First-year student, Alyssa Kush said she was not happy to walk to class in the snowy weather because she thought the campus would be closed for the safety of students, faculty, and staff.

Parents on Facebook called out FSU for its lack of concern for students’ safety. Some of the comments stated; 

“Wish you made this call before my dad had to drive his granddaughter to class.” 

“My son went just as it began only to get to his class which was only 20 minutes, just long enough for them to hand out a syllabus and dismiss them. Took him an hour to get home, said he couldn’t even see but got behind a box truck with his flashers on so he followed him. Said he barely made it. If FSU knows a storm is coming, please don’t wait to cancel class. It’s not worth anyone’s life or having their lives turned upside down for a bit because their car is totaled. Especially just to hand out a syllabus!!!” 

Some users concluded that FSU tried to cover up opening the school on its Facebook page by editing its original post. Below is a screenshot of the edited message:

After a delay in opening, FSU resumed Thursday, January 26 at 11:00 am for in-person classes and activities. FSU President, Dr. Ronald Nowaczyk. sent out an email regarding on-campus operations for inclement weather which included deciding factors to delay opening the school or closing campus, who makes the decision, and how to determine the time to open when there is a delayed opening. Ultimately, the President takes responsibility for the final decision based on the information gathered at the time. A Burg Alert is then issued shortly after.

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