A winter weather advisory for freezing rain, ice and snow in the Nashville area on Friday, Jan. 12 may require the administration to cancel classes. A posting on the Vanderbilt News site late Thursday evening stated that if classes do end up getting cancelled, students, staff and faculty will receive text, email and phone messages by 5 a.m. on Friday alerting them of the announcement.
According to AccuWeather as of Thursday night, ice resulting in difficult travel conditions, total snow accumulations of up to two inches and ice accumulations of up to two tenths of an inch are expected.
“All faculty, staff and students living off campus are strongly encouraged to evaluate road conditions along their commute and to use discretion in choosing whether or not to travel to campus if the university remains open,” the posting said. “Personal safety is the first priority.”
Metro Nashville public schools have already announced closings due to the probability of inclement weather. Additionally, all counties surrounding Vanderbilt have announced school closings for Friday, including Cheatham County Schools, Dickson County Schools, Clarksville-Montgomery County Schools, Father Ryan High School, Franklin Special School District, Lebanon Special School district, Murfreesboro City Schools, Robertson County Schools, Rutherford County Schools, Sumner County Schools, Wilson County Schools and Williamson County Schools.
The last time Vanderbilt canceled class due to inclement weather was during January 2016 after eight inches of snow made travel to campus unsafe. Vanderbilt also canceled classes in Feb. 2015 when Tenn. declared a state of emergency, Nashville Mayor Karl Dean requested that all nonessential travel be suspended, and public transportation was suspended in Nashville. Provost Susan Wente is ultimately responsible for making the decision to ultimately cancel class, which she makes with the guidance of Vanderbilt Police, Campus Dining, News and Communications, Human Resources and Plant Operations.