Sergio Medina
Editor in Chief
Updated 2:43 p.m. Feb. 1:
Via email, Texas A&M University-San Antonio announced today the campus will remain closed until noon Feb. 2.
“Classes will continue virtually until noon, as possible,” the email reads, inviting students to contact instructors for more instructions.
Staff also will keep working remotely until then.
A winter storm warning remains in effect by the National Weather Service until 6 a.m. Feb. 2. Temperatures will range 35-40 degrees from 7 a.m.-noon.
Updated 2:10 p.m. Jan. 31:
A&M-San Antonio updated students and staff at 12:40 p.m. via mass email to announce that the campus will close at 5 p.m. Jan. 31 and will remain closed Feb. 1.
The university said classes would shift to online and staff would move to remote operations Feb. 1. More updates will be provided tomorrow afternoon.
In an email to The Mesquite at 11:19 a.m., senior communications manager Brance Arnold said that operational decisions are made at the cabinet level, and that MarCom could provide updates “as they were made available.”
The Mesquite contacted the office of the president after the university’s decision to close the campus to ask why the university did not act sooner, but the office redirected editors to the marketing and communications department (MarCom).
Original story:
As other universities in San Antonio canceled classes because of a winter storm warning, Texas A&M University-San Antonio will remain open Jan. 31, causing concern among students on social media.
Per a 6:31 a.m. Facebook post, “Texas A&M University-San Antonio is planning to remain open today, Tuesday, January 31. We are monitoring weather conditions closely and will respond and provide updates as needed. Please use caution on the roadways and prioritize your safety.”
The National Weather service sent out a winter storm warning in the early hours of Jan. 31, alerting of “significant” ice accumulation. A half-inch total is expected for northern parts of Bexar and Medina counties. Portions of I-410 and Loop 1604 are also expected to freeze. The alert is active until 6 a.m. Thursday.
Some on social media were not happy with A&M-San Antonio’s decision.
“Well some people come from Boerne all the way up from canyon lake and it’s icy from what I heard schools and SOME JOBS are closed,” one individual commented on the post.
“Please close for the safety of our commuting children,” another wrote.
In a Jan. 31 email to The Mesquite, Eve White, executive director of Marketing and Communications at A&M-San Antonio, said the notice remains in effect.
“We will be monitoring and updating as the day goes forward,” she wrote. “Faculty and supervisors have the discretion (to) make decisions with their students and staff.”
The University of Texas at San Antonio, Trinity University, The Alamo Colleges, St. Mary’s University, the University of the Incarnate Word and Our Lady of the Lake University are among local universities that canceled in-person classes for today, according to their social media channels.
The Jan. 31 forecast for San Antonio is a high of 37 degrees Fahrenheit and a low of 34. The temperature is 32 degrees as of 8:36 a.m.
For more information, visit the National Weather Service website.
Xochilt Garcia contributed to this story.
