Since the start of the semester, our campus has been hit by snow again and again, which has disproportionately affected Monday classes. You would think that after multiple snowstorms and brief flurries, Quinnipiac would have snow removal ironed out.

Unsurprisingly, it doesn’t.

After a lovely day away from campus, taking pictures in the snowstorm, I headed back to campus Monday night. My boyfriend drove me down since the roads were still rough.

We were both stunned when we got to Quinnipiac’s York Hill Campus. The bottom of the staircase to get to my dorm was a sheet of ice. I had to grab my boyfriend to keep him from falling backward due to the unexpected slippery conditions.

Unbeknownst to us, that wouldn’t even be the start.

The only door to get into my dorm was covered in about 18 inches of snow.

Besides the fact that I was wearing sneakers and thin pants, completely unequipped to trudge through a mountain of snow, the door to my dorm opens outward. Meaning even if I somehow made it through the snow with all of my stuff, I couldn’t open the door even if I wanted to.

So, I did what I was supposed to do. I called the Department of Public Safety. 

I let the officer who answered know about the situation and she said that she made facilities aware and that they would send someone over. Great!

My boyfriend and I went to the gas station, got gas, drinks and drove back, which took us about 25 minutes. Plenty of time for facilities to get to my dorm to start shoveling out the door for a student who wouldn’t have a place to sleep that night.

Newsflash, no one was there.

So, my roommate called Public Safety after I told her that she was now trapped in our dorm. She was told someone called 30 minutes ago (A.K.A. me) and that facilities would be there when they could.

After an hour of waiting, and it now being nearly 9:30 p.m., I was done waiting and my boyfriend needed to get to sleep for work the next morning. So, we left.

Facilities only came to shovel us out when my roommate’s mom called. They then offered me temporary housing in Crescent for the night, but what was I to do? Sleep in an empty dorm, just me, my backpack, a bag of laundry and a cold blanketless prison mattress? I think not.

For a campus that loves to say students complain about the lack of snow days due to unpreparedness… the call is coming from inside the house.

Imagine if my boyfriend had just dropped me off and I was stuck outside in 20-degree weather waiting an hour for facilities to show up. Or if there was a medical emergency inside my dorm and first responders couldn’t even open the door.

At the risk of sounding like a 35-year-old Facebook mom – do better, Quinnipiac. Our mommies shouldn’t have to call before you care.