On Rare Snow Day, Students Sled, Assist Dining Staff

UPDATED: January 28, 2015, at 3:49 p.m.

As “potentially historic” levels of snow fell on Cambridge and Harvard canceled all but its non-essential operations on Tuesday amid a state of emergency, Houses offered up space to accommodate dining hall workers and students spent a rare snow day sledding down library steps.

Students sled down the front steps of Widener Library Tuesday, making use of a rare snow day on campus as a blizzard descends on the Boston area. The University has historically only closed for select major weather events. By Alana M Steinberg

According to Crista Martin, a Harvard University Dining Services spokesperson, all HUDS dining staff are considered essential University employees and were asked to work as scheduled on Tuesday if they could safely arrive at Harvard.

Many Houses hosted their HUDS workers overnight, whether in House masters’ residences or on couches. Richard W. Wrangham, co-master of Currier House, estimated that 17 workers, most of whom lived too far from Harvard for travel, stayed overnight in Currier.

Although having the staff sleepover was part of an emergency contingency plan, Currier dining hall worker Patricia C. Machado called it a “nice” experience, adding that students showed their appreciation through thank-you cards and applause.

“Being in Harvard buildings, I felt a lot safer,” Machado said. “We have food; we have power.”

Some dining hall staffs enlisted the help of House affiliates Tuesday, such as student swipers, to keep operations smooth. In Pforzheimer House, more than 20 students signed up on a Doodle poll to work in the kitchens throughout the day, according to House Co-Master Anne Harrington ’82.

“Our staff has been spectacular,” Eliot House Co-Master Douglas A. Melton said. “They were a little short-handed so [Eliot House Co-Master] Gail [O’Keefe] and I and some of the students did some of the swiping; students helped shovel walks.”

As snow piled up across campus on Tuesday, undergraduates trekked through the snow on mostly empty streets, passersby traveling on cross-country skis replacing the usual motor vehicle traffic. Students put their House pride at stake in several snowball fights, both in the Quad and on the River. Others careened down Widener Library’s steps on makeshift sleds—mostly dining hall trays—and some crossed the Charles River to sled at Harvard Stadium.

Some House Committees, too, organized programming for students on their unexpected free day, from offering L.A. Burdick hot chocolate to slashing prices on House merchandise.

Christine Y. Hwang ’17 said she enjoyed the day’s opportunity to see her peers, though it interrupted her schedule. While she attended some House events, Hwang spent most of her snow day watching shows on Netflix in her dorm room.

People skied down mostly empty streets in Cambridge Tuesday as snow blanketed the area. By Y. Kit Wu

Esther Jeon ’18 went out in the blizzard at midnight Tuesday with friends to sled down the steps of Widener, then in the morning joined her entryway and others to do it again.

“Even if it was inconvenient for my shopping schedule, it was worth it,” she said, shortly before leaving to assist Annenberg Hall staff for the dinner shift.

—Staff writer Noah J. Delwiche contributed to the reporting of this story.

—Staff writer Quynh-Nhu Le can be reached at quynhnhu.le@thecrimson.com. Follow her on Twitter @qnhule.

—Staff writer Ivan B. K. Levingston can be reached at Ivan.Levingston@thecrimson.com. Follow him on Twitter @IvanLevingston.