The Sandspur

Issue date: 10/28/05 Section: News

Media Credit: Dani Picard A BLUSTERY DAY FOR ROLLINS: Damage to the Rollins Campus and greater Winter Park area was minimal despite a brief period of tropical-storm force winds on Monday.

Hurricane Wilma, the twenty-first named storm of the 2005 hurricane season, made landfall on Monday, October 24, just outside of Naples on the southwest coast of Florida. Residents of the Central Florida area were prepared for the worse, as Orange County was under an inland Tropical Storm Warning. Some residents were reminded of last year's Hurricane Charley that shifted its track just prior to landfall and made a direct hit on the area causing significant damage.

The Rollins community was on edge and many were fearful of a Charley repeat. The Emergency Operations Team (EOPT) met on Friday and decided that unless conditions worsened the predictions did not warrant the cancellation of classes and other activities. This assertion was based upon Winter Park and Orlando wind assessments made by extremely detailed weather forecasting. EOPT did leave the door open for a possible change in policy saying that if conditions worsened they would cancel class. Hurricane Wilma did gain some strength as it exited the Yucatan peninsula. Many students and faculty assumed that so many other institutions were canceling their Monday activities that Rollins would follow suit. Many members of the Rollins community were shocked with the EOPT announced at 2:30 p.m. that "classes scheduled on Monday, October 24 are expected to continue as planned."

Students and faculty members were outraged at the decisions and many feared for their safety as they walked to class during the storm. On Sunday attempts were made to change the policy and students and faculty began to e-mail the President trying to coax the EOPT away from their decision. Caitlin McConnell, Student Government Association President, sent out an email to the students shortly before 10 p.m. on Sunday night saying that she was attempting, to the best of her abilities, "to persuade the administration to reconsider their decision." In the e-mail McConnell said that President Duncan was standing firm on the opinion since the campus is 80% residential that the students were not in danger to attend. Most students could not understand why so many cancelled class while Rollins did not.

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