Weather update: Gannon adjusts its plans for the week

Posted: December 2, 2024

Gannon’s Erie Campus will remain closed Wednesday as university crews and the community continue to dig out from a record-setting lake effect storm.

However, remote course instruction will resume Wednesday.

Students can expect to receive directions from their instructors via email regarding expectations for Wednesday. This will be a class-by-class decision to meet the needs of each course. 

We understand this will not work for everyone, and that some students will be traveling or otherwise not able to access remote classes, if asked to do so. We are encouraging faculty – and everyone – to show a bit of grace with each other and to communicate often.

These are unusual circumstances. Trained spotters with the National Weather Service estimate Erie received 45 inches of snow between Friday and noon Monday. This is why we closed campus Monday and Tuesday.

Everyone is doing their best.

Streets crews with the city, county and state are doing an admirable job removing snow, but the work is slow. On campus, our employees and several hired contractors have been diligently preparing campus for our return. Most sidewalks and several parking lots have been cleared, but there is more to do.

Students are discouraged from returning to campus until Wednesday evening to give the city and our employees more time.

The main roads are passable, but side roads near campus remain rutted and often have just one lane. Low-profile vehicles without all-wheel-drive or four-wheel-drive have little chance of navigating the city’s residential streets.

We expect on-street parking will be extremely difficult to find in the days ahead. We suggest those who use on-street parking consider using city parking garages for the remainder of the semester. Better yet -- if you can -- avoid bringing a car back to campus for these next two weeks.

Police & Safety will be assisting those who have on-campus parking privileges with finding alternate spaces to park. Some university lots have fewer spaces available because vehicles left over break are snow covered and have hindered plowing.

Services will continue to be limited on campus until Thursday:

Despite campus being closed Wednesday, we will continue to host the NCAA Division II Volleyball Regional at the Hagerty Family Events Center at Cathedral Prep as originally planned. Practices begin in that facility Wednesday and the eight-team tournament begins Thursday.

Also, there are no plans to alter our December commencement, which is scheduled for Sunday, Dec. 8.

For most employees, Wednesday will be another remote workday. Only a limited number of essential employees should be on campus.

We will continue to monitor the situation in Erie and with the weather as the storm warning does not expire until 7 p.m. Tuesday.

We sincerely hope we’ve seen the worst of it and are looking forward to seeing you on campus.