As Potential Blizzard Approaches, Harvard Graduate Schools Cancel Classes

Updated: Jan. 12 at 12:25 p.m.

Schools within Harvard University have announced that classes will be canceled on Wednesday, and the University has advised a large portion of its staff not to report to work in light of a storm that may bring up to 16 inches of snow to the Boston area.

The Harvard Law School, the Harvard Medical School, the Harvard School of Public Health, the Harvard School of Dental Medicine, the Harvard Kennedy School, the Harvard Extension School, and the Harvard Graduate School of Education have canceled classes. The Harvard Business School "will operate in a limited capacity," the Harvard Divinity School will provide "limited, essential services only," and the Harvard Graduate School of Design will offer January Term classes at their instructors' discretion, the schools said in announcements on their websites.

In an e-mail to students of Harvard College, Dean of the College Evelynn M. Hammonds said that dining hall employees, shuttle operators, and snow removal personnel will report to work Wednesday. Classes at the College are currently not in session, though more than 1,200 students have been granted housing.

Exterior doors to the buildings of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, the University's largest school and the home of Harvard College, will be locked, FAS Dean of Administration and Finance Leslie A. Kirwan '79 wrote in an e-mail to staff members.

The announcements came as weather forecasts reported a snowstorm approaching the New England area. The National Weather Service issued a blizzard warning Tuesday afternoon, predicting 12 to 16 inches of snow and wind gusts up to 45 miles per hour, and Cambridge has declared a snow emergency parking ban that takes effect tomorrow.

According to advisories sent to employees throughout various parts of the University, only employees deemed “essential/critical” to operations will be required to report for work Wednesday.

Employees who do fall under the “essential/critical” classification but can work from home “are strongly encouraged to do so,” University Executive Vice President Katherine N. Lapp wrote in a message. Other employees do not have to come to work, though they will be paid.

According to University spokesman Kevin Galvin, some examples of essential or critical staff include emergency response and public safety personnel, transportation services employees, dining services staff, custodial services staff, building maintenance and repair workers, utilities operations staff, and staff involved in storm-related operations.

The School of Engineering and Applied Sciences "does not expect individuals to come to work" unless if they are essential to school operations, according to a message sent on behalf of SEAS Dean Cherry A. Murray.

The Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study will be closed.

According to its website, Harvard University Health Services will be closed Wednesday with the exception of urgent care, which will be operating on the third floor from 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.

Additionally, the Office of Career Services’ On-Campus Interview program announced that it has postponed its Jan. 12 deadline for applications to internships at firms such as Barclays Capital, Goldman Sachs, and J.P. Morgan by 24 hours, noting that there will not be drop-ins or counseling appointments while—"for what may be the first time in Harvard history," it said in an e-mail—OCS is closed due to the storm.

Harvard has been known to remain reluctant to cancel school on account of snow. Former Dean of Students Archie C. Epps III told The Crimson in reference to a 1977 blizzard that “Harvard University will close only for an act of God, such as the end of the world.”

—Staff writer Xi Yu can be reached at xyu@college.harvard.edu.