A blizzard expected to produce 10 inches of snow caused Saint Xavier to close at 2:00 p.m. on Tuesday, March 5.
All afternoon and evening classes were cancelled and a majority of the facilities on campus either closed at two or closed early.
University grounds keeping tried to keep up with the descending snow in order to maintain clear sidewalks and parking lots, but these attempts proved largely futile.
Dining services on campus with the exception of Starbucks closed earlier in the evening, slightly inconveniencing resident students.
Students spent a majority of their suddenly aquired free time during the day inside studying and relaxing due to the low visibility caused by the extreme downpouring of snow.
Commuter students, however, appreciated being allowed to commute home before the winter storm made driving conditions too dangerous.
Alexis Medina, sophomore nursing major and commuter student, said that she appreciated classes being cancelled.
“It was too dangerous to drive anywhere,” she said of her twenty minute commute.
The day was not all cold and uneventful, however. Once the snow-storm had run its course, resident students took advantage of this winter’s last hurrah by congregating in the Quad outside of the resident halls for a impromptu, Facebook organinized event.
Starting at 10:30 p.m., residents started arriving in the quad and in a few minutes, a variety of winter festivities commenced.
Over the course of the following hour, more than 30 students occupied the Quad participating in student-organized activities included snowman building, romping around in the snow and a massive snowball war with new faces joining the fray as others called it a night.
The fun in the snow-covered Quad lasted until shortly after 11:30, when residents started to head back inside to get some sleep.
Joshua Humphrey
News Correspondent