Ice Storm Heroes at the University of Arkansas: Part I

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The University of Arkansas never really closes. When a record-breaking, catastrophic ice storm hit northwest Arkansas during the night of Monday, Jan. 26, and morning of Tuesday, Jan. 27, the university cancelled classes and closed offices and business operations for an unprecedented four days.

Approximately 4,500 students live on campus. Their needs didn’t stop for inclement weather.

The essential members of the university staff didn’t stop either: They worked through the week to make sure the students were safe, warm, fed and housed — this in spite of having their own emergencies to deal with at home, and the fact that just getting to campus was a feat in itself. These workers are among the real heroes of the Ice Storm of 2009.

This ongoing feature will highlight the work done by these men and women during a historic week. The people who, in the words of Chancellor G. David Gearhart, demonstrated “yet another example of the unwavering spirit of a Razorback and the dedication of so many to our university.”

The inclement weather policy went into effect at 5:30 a.m. Tuesday morning.

By that time dining service workers were already on the job preparing breakfast at Brough Commons, the Northwest Quad, and Pomfret Hall. Managers and staff who lived close to campus walked to work; others who could get out of their driveways braved the slick roads, picking up co-workers along the way. Over the next four days the dining halls operated as close to normal hours as possible. It wasn’t easy.

“Normally we have over 400 full-time, part-time and student associates working at the university,” said Morgan Stout, director of operations for Chartwells. “I’d say that, including our management team, we had about 30 percent of our staff able to get to work on any given day during the week. Our team worked 12 and 14 hour shifts to keep the dining halls running. We couldn’t get any food deliveries until Thursday, but we were well prepared, and we never ran out of anything.”

 Between Tuesday and Friday the three dining halls served over 16,000 meals, and not just to students in the residence halls. Several fraternity and sorority houses, as well as the Duncan Street Apartments lost power after the storm, and many of those students had meals at the dining halls. In addition, dining services provided meals to workers from facilities management, housing, and other crews working on campus.

Thursday, Chartwells was able to open RZ’s Coffee House and the Club Red convenience store at Brough Commons. By Sunday, all operations were back to normal hours.

 “On top of all this we still managed to provide food service at the Arkansas basketball game, for the Friday Night Live Program, and the Chinese New Year banquet,” Stout added. “It was a challenging week to say the least, but thanks to a dedicated staff we made it through.”

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Follow this link to see photos and video of the ice storm and cleanup.