The wintry mix that blanketed the College on Thursday left half the campus in the dark, but it bestowed students and staff their first official snow day in, according to some professors, more than 30 years.
The Treasurer's Office announced early Thursday morning that the inclement weather and power outage affecting the campus south of Moulton Union warranted a "weather emergency."
Shortly after, an announcement informing students that classes were canceled was distributed via e-mail and voicemail.
Once students discovered their good fortune, most chose to sleep in, enjoy the weather, or catch up on their work.
"The students were very happy that they didn't have classes for the day. There was a certain joy on campus today that was fun to watch," Director of Safety and Security Randy Nichols said.
Seniors Armand Gottlieb, James Knuckles, Alden Karr, Mike Igoe, and Sam Chapple-Sokol took advantage of the heavy snowfall to make a snow fort in the middle of the Quad.
"We sat around in our pajamas and played board games all morning," said Igoe. "Then we went outside, had a snowball fight, then decided to build this big fort."
"We did no homework," Gottlieb added.
Sam Lazarus '09, a San Francisco native, experienced his first snow day on Thursday.
"It was great to have the day off," he said, adding that he "slept in until 1:30, then went to the gym."
For others, the snow day meant a couple of hours off before athletic practices or musical rehearsals.
Mark Dallaire '09, after finding out about the snow day, "went to [baseball] practice, then relaxed and played video games."
Assistant Professor of Asian Studies Vyjayanthi Selinger made a snowman with her daughter.
"It was her first snowman," Selinger added.
Nichols and other college administrators kept students informed throughout the day through e-mail. Nichols sent out several e-mails regarding tree limbs heavy with snow that "represented a danger to anybody on campus," and urged caution on the walkways and under trees.
Two students experienced knee injuries while playing on the Quad.
The power outage that had crippled the campus south of Moulton Union was resolved in a relatively short period of time. According to Nichols, "there was nothing alarming [about the outage]. The whole event happened in a fairly condensed period of time...and the situation was resolved quicker than expected."
The power outage lasted from approximately 3:45 a.m. until 10 a.m.
Parking lots, walkways, and sidewalks, were quickly and efficiently plowed and shoveled.
"I was up at 2:30 this morning to plow [the campus]," said Raymond Dall, lead mechanic at facilities management.
According to Dall, 18 to 20 staff members worked clearing parking lots, paths, and sidewalks throughout Thursday.
"We had five plow trucks, two tractors, and one snow blower working to clear the snow. The rest of the guys were shoveling," he said.