In this Issue:Recap of last night’s power outage and reminders about emergencies
In case you missed it, last night the power to campus was off for several hours, which is a very rare occurrence. You can read the various messages that went out at the Wake Alert website, or via the WakeSafe app. (And a reminder, if families want campus security alerts, you need to download WakeSafe and enable notifications!)
Campus offices pivoted to meet the circumstances: the Pit kept its doors open and provided boxed meals; RAs on duty helped let students in (since residential key cards were not working); staff looked into building temperatures and assured that buildings would hold their heat for a few hours (assuming students kept windows closed and minimized opening/closing of doors); and students concerned about academic impact were encouraged to reach out to their faculty as applicable.
So while it was no doubt an inconvenience, it also offered students an opportunity to practice how to handle the unexpected. And from everything I could discern from social media, the students seemed to deal with it pretty well.
There will no doubt be times after graduation when they have to deal with a power outage, or a storm that causes damage, or a broken furnace/air conditioner (no doubt during the coldest/hottest part of the year), or a barfing toddler on a day they have a big work deadline, etc. – so having some practice adapting and not getting rattled by setbacks is helpful (if irksome).
