In light of Governor Gretchen Whitmer declaring a State of Emergency early Tuesday morning, the University has decided to cancel all events and classes on campus for Wednesday, Jan. 29, and intends to resume activity at 7 a.m. Friday. This will be the third time in 40 years the school has closed due to weather.
The University Record announced classes were canceled at 3:30 p.m. on Tuesday.
“The University of Michigan’s Ann Arbor campus issued an emergency reduction in operation effective at midnight Tuesday through 7 a.m. Friday, due to predicted extreme low temperatures and wind chills,” The Record said.
The last time the University halted activity was in February 2015 due to a winter storm which resulted in 18 inches of snowfall. Before that, there was a closure in 2014 due to extremely cold temperatures — specifically, a wind chill of -30 degrees. The first time the University closed was in January 1978 due to climate conditions. Weather projections estimate a wind chill of nearly -40 degrees for Wednesday and part of Thursday.
Before the announcement was made, University Spokeswoman Kim Broekhuizen explained the University had been working with various individuals to determine the best action to take.
“University officials are working closely with internal and external partners to monitor the predicted temperature and windchill for later this week,” Broekhuizen said in an email to The Daily.
The decision to cancel classes comes after of closures on campus and of local business around Ann Arbor on Monday. University student groups, such as the Michigan Student Power Network, also took to advocating for a campus closure through their #UMichColdShoulder petition, which currently has over 9,000 signatures. The petition also encouraged students to call University President Mark Schlissel as well as other University administrators.
The University joins MSU, Wayne State University, among others to cancel classes because of extreme weather conditions.