The Ursinus campus escaped major damage during Hurricane Sandy and a group of students spent the night in lower Wismer to ride out the storm.
In anticipation of hazardous weather, the college announced on Saturday that all classes and campus activities would be canceled Sunday through Tuesday. President Fong urged students to leave campus by Sunday afternoon, and the vast majority were able to travel home or stay with friends. Some faculty members made space for students in their own homes.
A tree was uprooted at the edge of the Wismer parking lot.
For the 50 students who remained on campus, concerns about wind damage or power outages required them to relocate to Wismer Lower Lounge, where food and backup power was available. Senior John Dao, Campus Center Manager, managed the Wismer overnight event.
Other students elected to stay on campus to assist with safety dispatch and provide service through Ursinus College Emergency Medical Services. These were: Mike Osinski, junior, Campus Safety Senior Associate; Brian Kennedy, sophomore, dispatcher; Grant Cooper, junior, UC EMS Chief; Kimberly Nolan, freshman, dispatcher; Jake Kohler, senior, Senior Resident Advisor; and Tim Jordan, senior, Assistant Residence Director.
Damage on campus was relatively minor and mostly consisted of downed trees. On Main Street, a large pine tree fell onto a power line and knocked a blue spruce tree onto the roof of Sabres Jewelry. Some other trees on Main Street had their tops knocked off. A neighbor’s tree fell onto a student’s car in the Clamer parking lot and also took out a PECO pole on the neighbor’s property. At one address on 9th Avenue, three large pines were uprooted. Some smaller Bradford pear trees were knocked over near the Gravel Lot and the Wismer Lot.
Some athletic facilities received minor damage. On the baseball field, the scoreboard is leaning. The netting and framing at the right side of the grandstands were damaged as were the windscreens on the tennis court.
Photos by Grant Cooper.