By Lili Martinez

Last Wednesday, Feb. 2, Kenyon experienced a blackout rivaling the fabled September blackout of ’08, which many juniors and seniors still remember fondly. Combined with an ice and sleet storm and a comparatively small snowstorm, Wednesday saw the cancellation of all classes and a mass migration of students to Peirce Hall, where natural light and packaged food provided warmth and sustenance. According to Chief Business Officer Mark Kohlman, Kenyon began preparing for the storm on Monday. “We started mapping out a plan for addressing the storm on Monday when it was clear we would be getting bad weather,” he said. “The Maintenance department moved generators into key locations on Tuesday so that if the College lost power, it would be fairly easy to get the critical places hooked up.” AVI workers at Peirce were preparing in advance, too: “They moved water and supplies into Peirce from storage anticipating loss of power. While the generator in Peirce provides electricity for essential functions, it does not make the building fully operational.” Students munched on packaged cookies, sandwiches and bottled water on Wednesday. Power was restored at around 3:00 p.m. for many buildings, and by Thursday, things were back to normal in Gambier.

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