Cold weather is nothing new for students and faculty here at Colgate, but last week members of the Colgate community experienced an entirely new kind of cold.

Temperatures last week dropped to as low as 20 below zero with a wind-chill of -40 degrees. These frigid temperatures persisted all throughout the week and never rose above freezing.

The weather was especially shocking to students returning from winter break, many of whom spent their month away in warmer locations, or first-years who are unaccustomed to the biting cold. For others, however, the cold is just an unavoidable, routine part of living in upstate New York.

“We are accustomed to the cold and snow in upstate New York. We typically cancel classes only in the event of an emergency,” Dean Nelson said, when asked whether or not there was discussion of cancelling classes. Despite the bitter cold, classes resumed at a normal schedule. While road conditions were not ideal, it was decided that it was safe enough for students and faculty members to travel. Snow and ice were present last week, but because they were not as pressing as the freezing conditions themselves, the academic buildings remained opened and classes continued as normal.

However, precautions were taken. E-mails went out to students and faculty with recommendations about preparing for the cold, such as making sure windows and doors are sealed tightly so that pipes don’t burst due to the low temperature.

“It takes a lot longer to get ready and get to where you want to go, so it forced me to allot my time better,” first-year Lily Trytten said. Trytten, a California native, had never felt anything under 30 degrees before coming to Colgate.

Countless other students had to modify their daily routines by adding more layers, giving themselves more time to get places and deciding if it was worth it to leave their dorms and brave the raw temperatures.

 Although the class schedules were unaffected by the weather, students’ lives certainly were impacted.

Contact Emily Rooney at [email protected].