(1/28/2019) - Hundreds of schools around Mid-Michigan closed by Monday morning in preparation for the storm that dumped snow throughout the day.
Even colleges, like Saginaw Valley State University and Delta College closed campuses before the storm hit. Central Michigan University did not -- opening briefly, then closing -- and not everyone was happy about how the situation was handled.
The snow was falling and the winds were howling at Central Michigan University as the storm intensified throughout the day. Criticism of the university intensified as well after the decision was made to open campus, but then close less than an hour after classes had begun.
"I definitely think the situation could have been handled better," said CMU student Kenzie Kernan. "A lot of students were already on their way to class or in class."
University spokeswoman Heather Smith said administrators were watching the situation closely last night and into this morning.
"First conversation was at about 4:45 (a.m.)," she said. "It hadn't started snowing yet at that point, so we decided to keep the university open."
But once it started snowing, school officials decided it would be best to close.
"By about 8:20 (a.m.), we determined we would close and opted to do so immediately rather than waiting another hour or two because people were already on campus," Smith said.
She said the logistics of sending the message to more than 25,000 students, staff and employees was the reason it took about 30 minutes before the message that the university was closing got to everyone.
Those that were on campus were not happy. One CMU employee who did not want to be identified said "I feel CMU lacked basic respect to its community by putting a number of people at risk with unnecessary commutes when the winter storm had been widely anticipated. Finding out that the university was closed when we had just arrived was, to say the least, irreverent."
Smith said CMU will evaluate how it made Monday's decisions.
"The health and safety of our campus community is always our top priority, so we take that very seriously," she said.