Hurricane Sandy left little trace on the Bard College campus, despite ample preparations by students and administrators alike.
College officials cancelled all classes after 11 am on Monday, Oct. 29 as the storm neared. Students filled take-home containers with food in Kline Commons, a precaution that would prove unnecessary—the dining hall maintained its regular hours, though Down the Road Café in the Campus Center closed at 4:30pm.
At 7:15pm, Ken Cooper, director of campus security, sent a text to the community saying that all public buildings on campus would be closed at 9pm. Students were instructed to avoid walking outside.
Students took the extra free time as an opportunity to relax and catch up on work. Freshman Erin Carden played board games with friends. Sophomore Max Baird stepped outside to find the campus empty. “It wasn’t raining but leaves were everywhere,” he said.
Though she took the necessary precautions, freshman Angie Del Arca was unfazed by the weather. “I was joking with my friends that it was tanning weather back home in New Orleans. I didn’t really experience anything,” she said.
But the damages to New York City and surrounding areas made the storm very real–several students who had spent the weekend in the city were unable to return to campus, while students who call the city home worried about the safety of family members.
“Let us hope that things return to normal quickly and that a long time passes before we have to go through this experience again,” Bard President Leon Botstein wrote in an email to the community.
Cooper told the Bard Free Press that there was “no damage, no flooding and no injuries on campus.”
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