Temperatures Friday have hovered around -5 degrees, with windchill reaching down into the negative twenties. Those conditions are expected to continue throughout the weekend, according to the U.S. National Weather Service.

Students expected to attend men's hockey and basketball games this weekend were also told to not line up outside the venues before 15 minutes prior to doors opening.

Despite the inclement weather, MSU announced Thursday evening that classes would not be cancelled the following day.

The announcement immediately prompted outcry from the students, who claimed keeping classes open would put students who walk to class at risk of frostbite and force drivers onto unsafe roads.

Biochemistry and molecular biology freshman Siena Murphy, who was walking to class around 1 p.m. Friday, noted that the frigid conditions also made it harder to find a spot on CATA buses — the only free and reliably warm form of transportation on campus.

“I try my best to take the bus, but it's always packed,” Murphy said. “I have 8 a.m. classes too — it's significantly colder, and the roads and sidewalks are awful in the early morning.”

Despite snowplows frequently servicing sidewalks and roads on campus, students said a thin sheet of compacted snow and ice on most sidewalks turned walking anywhere into a daunting task.

“I walk here from McDonnel, which isn’t too bad all things considered, but this kind of cold makes it take twice as long,” psychology freshman Madison TenBroeke, who works in Snyder Hall, said. 

Since its founding in 1855, MSU has only closed its campus seven times due to severe weather conditions. The most recent instance was in 2019, when cold temperatures in January closed the university for two days.

"Cold weather, by itself, does not warrant class cancellations or operational changes,” according to an MSU website. 

Deans and college leaders were told by Provost Laura Lee McIntyre on Thursday evening, a few hours before the rest of campus was notified, that classes would not be cancelled for the next day.

McIntyre made the decision after her regular meeting with MSU’s deans Thursday, president Kevin Guskiewicz said in an interview with The State News. She told them to instruct their faculty to “be accommodating and provide some flexibility," including moving classes to Zoom if necessary.

“I haven’t had any complaints from students hit my door today yet,” he said just after noon on Friday, knocking on the wooden arm of his chair.

During the coldest temperatures Friday morning, about 500 classes were scheduled to meet, according to a university spokesperson. With a laugh, Guskiewicz said, “we wanted those students to get their money’s worth.”