Makes Snow Sense

Lying anxiously in bed listening to the radio and waiting for your school’s name to be called. Realizing that that big yellow bus will never be able to make it down your block. All of the signs that school has been cancelled because of snow are distant (or, in the case of those from warmer climes, nonexistent) memories for Harvard students.

Although situated in a climate with considerable snowfall, Harvard has not had a cancellation of classes due to inclement weather since the infamous blizzard of 1978, a historic storm in which wind speeds were recorded at 92 miles per hour. Even Mayor Menino’s announcement of a state of emergency for Boston on Monday flew under the radar of Harvard’s meteorological decision makers.

While there is validity in Harvard’s official policy that the proximity of faculty and students allows school to proceed even in the face of inclement weather, it may be a little too stringent. Former Dean of Students Archie C. Epps III once told The Crimson that “Harvard University will close only for an act of God, such as the end of the world.” It seems excessive to force students to wait until the apocalypse to get a snow day.

Harvard constantly tries to improve the mental health of its students, offering everything from mental-health weeks to relaxation classes to massage study breaks. It is neglecting, however, the most simple, rational, and cost-efficient treatment of all—time off from school. One can sadly only guess at what the Harvard student body’s brainpower could do given freedom in the winter wonderlands Cambridge skies cook up for them. Snow forts with n+1 housing? Intramural snowball fights at an A, B, and C level? All of these questions go unanswered when the Severs and Biolabs and Barker Centers of the campus remain open.

College for many is about learning to live in a new environment and culture, and our current lack of snow days does an unsatisfactory job of introducing students from warmer climates the institution of the snow day. We expect students from Los Angeles, Florida, and other warm spots to take on the harshness of our winters yet do not allow them the benefit of cancellations that are pillars of elementary and high-school education in New England.

As with anything else at Harvard, this is not all about the students. Where in this policy is consideration of our faculty? Some faculty may be lucky enough to reside in Cambridge, but what about those who have built their nests further out, with houses in Newton, flats in Peabody, and apartments in Winchester? Instead of having a day full of delays, distractions, and slush in the hallways, Harvard should make its snow day policy more lenient for convenience, peace of mind, and respect of a New England staple.

The Harvard bubble may insulate us from local and national politics, outside culture, and perhaps even the economic crisis, but it cannot protect us from the snow.