Drew Adjusts its School Calendar to Account for Days Lost

Although the financial impact of last week’s snowfall to Drew University has not yet been determined, students now know that two additional days are being added to the first semester calendar.

Students had been asked to leave campus on Sunday, Dec. 30 and classes were cancelled through Thursday.

The university has decided to extend the semester by four days to account for the days lost, according to Dave Muha, spokesperson for Drew University. Exams are being extended by two days, with the campus now scheduled to close at noon on Dec. 17 instead of the originally announced Dec. 15.

“It was an unplanned spring break in the middle of the fall,” he said.

Students returned to campus Thursday and classes resumed Friday. Without power, students had been instructed to leave campus; about 40 were accommodated at the College of St. Elizabeth. About 20 remained when the all-clear came to return to campus.

“We are very grateful to them (College of St. Elizabeth) for doing that,” Muha said.

In addition to the power outage, Muha reported that hundreds of tree limbs were down on campus and several damaged parked cars. A limb that fell on the roof of one of the residence halls did not damage the roof structurally but did cause a tear that let water in and needed repair.

The low-voltage situation also burned out several sump pumps on the property.

The university is currently working with its insurance carrier to determine the cost of the damages.