Our View
The staff editorial is the majority opinion of The Murray State News Editorial Board.
Students are undoubtedly the most important part of any university.
As the primary consumers of an institution, we should be kept satisfied, safe and in high priority by our school. However, it seemed like Murray State was one university that failed to do this for us Monday.
While students at other Kentucky colleges saw cancellations due to unsafe road conditions, it was announced that Murray State would only face a two-hour delay with classes resuming on a revised schedule.
This decision showed how little concern the University had for the safety of its students and faculty members, who felt obligated to drive on treacherous, icy roads to attend school and work.
The delay’s purpose was to facilitate the University’s interest of keeping campus open. There was no consideration of who had to struggle to get there in fear of being penalized.
Fortunately, most professors were accepting of late and absent students because it was considered compromising to their safety to show up.
Driving just a short distance to campus proved to be a gamble because the roads were not completely salted and cars were coated in ice.
Students who commuted from Marshall, Henry and Calloway counties possibly risked their lives to be here when they shouldn’t have had to.
After the December ice storm, it was apparent how ill-prepared the campus and city were for the inclement weather. This should have influenced the idea that resuming classes was more trouble than it was worth.
Public Safety and Emergency Management left a mixed message when it announced the decision by first sending a mass text Sunday saying the University would be closed Monday, Feb. 3.
Shortly after, another mass text was sent saying the delay would resume. The University further misguided students when its official website listed the school as closed, yet said the delay was still in place on its social media accounts.
Satellite campuses and laboratories saw different time delays or full cancellations, including the Madisonville and Hopkinsville locations.
The lack of uniformity for Murray State’s decision further added to our frustration. Naturally, we were confused by the conflicting text messages and overall disorganization of communication.
This is not high school. Students have mandatory obligations other than attending class. Murray State failed to consider the fact that we are adults who, most likely, hold jobs or have families to care for.
Students should never have to choose between going to school and going to work, but the University put some of us in a position to do so.
We want to attend a school that reciprocates our spirit and lets us know that we influence the decisions that directly affect us.
We pay inflated tuition to attend Murray State and should be held in a higher regard. We should feel betrayed that the University would blatantly disregard our welfare to keep campus open.
Is this the message that Murray State wanted to convey?
That money and classes are more important than people who are paying and attending?
At first glance, it was a simple decision to keep business going. In our eyes, it translated to a statement that we have little importance here.