GREENSBORO, N.C. — North Carolina A&T State University will be suspending classes on Thursday, Jan. 18, due to the winter weather, after the school’s previous cancellation on Wednesday.
The university released a statement Wednesday night saying the freezing temperatures created damage to heating systems across campus. The school said the damage lead to heating outages at several residence halls.
In total, at least 34 buildings across the campus are without heat. The outage has left thousands of students frustrated and outraged.
“It does make me feel a little bit frustrated, but I do love the campus. I do love the community,” said Akasha Ray, a student at NC A&T State University. “It’s just one of the sufferings that we have to go through I guess.”
The university said the repair work cannot be completed before the weekend, therefore, students in affected dorms are encouraged to return home if possible.
“You’re at the mercy of how quickly parts can arrive to complete that repair, and once the parts arrive the repair has to made and tested, so we don’t know exactly how quickly those things will work themselves out,” said NC A&T spokesperson Todd Simmons.
The school said 6,000 students currently live in NC A&T on-campus housing. So far, there is no word on exactly how many students are impacted by the heating issues.
“We will resolve this as quickly as possible, but we are at the mercy of the supply chain and just time to get all of these repairs made,” said Simmons.
For those required to remain on campus, the university is working to create accommodations, including moving impacted students to off-campus apartments or hotels.
Students were seen via social media leaving their dorms and waiting for shuttles to take them to hotels. North Carolina A&T said classes will be remote on Friday, Jan. 19.
*This is a developing story that may be updated as new information becomes available.
