On August 25, the Saint Xavier University Campus Alert System informed students that all afternoon and evening classes were canceled due to a power outage. “The power outage occurred at approximately 10:50 am on Wednesday August 25th,” stated Peter Skach, the Director of Facilities Services and Management in an August 30 email.
At 11:48 a.m., SXU Getrave Alert sent out an email to community members, stating, “Due to extreme heat and power outages, classes will be canceled and school closed for the rest of the today.” The Alert also notified people that, “Essential personnel remain. See SXU Emergency Page.”
“The Facilities Management team contacted ComEd immediately and reported the outage and what buildings were affected,” said Skach. Skach continued: “The Facilities Staff responded by checking various critical equipment around campus and completed other tasks related to when power is lost,” adding, “Once ComEd was on site, we stayed in touch with them to understand what the restoration process and timeline would be and provided updates informing what those plans are.”
By late afternoon, main campus buildings had power restored to them ‘late’ with exception to Rubloff and O’Brien Halls. “Given this, a large ComEd emergency generator was set in place near Rubloff and O’Brien Halls to provide electricity considering that those two buildings did not regain power and were fully occupied with residents,” Skach further noted.
While Skach was aware of the August 25 power outage, the cause is still unknown. “I was informed about the outage and called ComEd immediately after the outage occurred,” Skach mentioned. He continued, “The possible cause of the power outage was an underground break in a ComEd electrical line that fed an electrical transformer near the softball field.”
By 12:07 p.m, the SXU Weather and Emergency Center updated its Notification Page with additional information.“Essential staff including Facilities, Public Safety and Food Service are required to remain on campus,” the center said on the university website, adding, “Staff may contact their supervisors with questions.”
Shortly after the Campus Alert was issued, another emailed statement followed.Sent at 12:13 p.m., the email said, “Residence halls will remain open. The Saint Xavier Health Center has power and will remain open today for normal business hours.”
The SXU Alert system alerted community members that “Power has been restored to all campus buildings,” effective at 8:21 p.m. The email officially announced, “Classes resume tomorrow, August 26, and campus is fully open.”
“ComEd worked during the night to repair the damaged underground power line,” said Skach, “and ComEd electrical service to Rubloff and O’Brien Halls was restored at approximately 10:10am on Thursday morning August 26th.”
Saint Xavier encourages students, faculty, and staff to register their cell phone numbers. Under “Resources” on the right-hand side of mySXU portal, click “Campus-Wide Text Alert System” to receive text alerts in the case of any/all emergency-related situations on campus.
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