Winter Weather Creates Hazards for Marist Residents
Students react to the recent snowfall on campus. Photo by: William Haydon '25
The Poughkeepsie area has seen extremely cold temperatures and numerous snowfalls in the early weeks of the 2025 spring semester. These conditions have interrupted the daily lives of Marist University students, creating uncomfortable, and even dangerous, commutes between classes and events – especially on weekends.
“I personally can’t stand the cold and the snow; it’s made walking to class pretty unbearable,” said Thomas Mullen ‘27.
Since Marist students returned to campus for the spring semester on Jan. 21, the Poughkeepsie area has seen snowfall on 11 different days in less than a month. According to past winters and early springs, it is common for Marist to see smaller flurries past March in the Poughkeepsie area.
Some Marist students are shocked that the campus has seen snowfall for just a week and a half, as there has been a white blanket covering the campus for nearly the entirety of the semester. Although the snow helps create beautiful, postcard-worthy views, some students have not enjoyed this winter wonderland, finding the conditions that the weather has made to be dangerous.
On weekday mornings, when Marist sees snow, the groundskeepers work to make sure students have a safe commute from their dorms to any event, club or class they must attend. This work includes clearing the snow away and salting any necessary walkways or roads.
Suppose conditions are not safe before classes are set to begin at 8:00 a.m. In that case, Marist will send alerts to students and faculty that classes will be canceled until conditions are safe, as the University did on Feb. 6, a decision that most students approved of.
“Who doesn’t love getting to sleep in for once?” said Mullen.
However, suppose Marist sees snow on the weekend. In that case, less effort is put into clearing walkways for students, a decision that creates a dangerous environment for residents, such as Jack Keenan ‘27.
On Feb. 15, Marist saw 5.6 inches of snow, which froze overnight due to rain and left walkways icy, which Keenan fell victim to Sunday morning.
“I came out of my house in Lower West on Sunday morning to get breakfast and slipped on the ice,” said Keenan. “Luckily, I was not hurt, but someone easily could have been.”
Keenan added that it took until after 1:00 p.m. for the ground crew to clear the snow at Lower West and until Monday morning for the walkways to be salted, leaving an icy sheet over the housing complex.
“It was still dangerous to walk anywhere on campus all day on Sunday; I was very surprised that the grounds crew did not salt the campus,” said Keenan.
Similarly, Jack Meacham ‘27 had an encounter with the icy sidewalk outside of The Marketplace at Upper West.
“I stepped out of my car in the parking lot by Upper West and began walking towards Marketplace,” said Meacham. “I stepped on a sheet of black ice with no salt, and my foot went out from under me. I have a cut on my leg, but overall, I was fine, thankfully.”
Meacham said he understands why less attention is paid to maintaining the safety of the campus on weekends but believes that it should still be a priority.
As Marist has most likely seen the worst of the snow season this spring semester, more experiences like Keenan and Meacham’s will have to wait until next year. The two sophomores hope that, by then, a change will be made to make sure that Marist students always feel safe, no matter the day of the week.