By: Saferino Dour

About 3 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 15, Daemen College experienced a power outage that affected “all of campus and the surrounding communities,” according to a campus alert sent from the college to the student body via email.

It was below 50 degrees in Buffalo with 30 mph winds and showering rain. 

Residential students of the college lost access to all power, and emergency lights were activated in the hallways of apartment buildings. Students were unable to use their keys to enter their buildings due to the loss of power. 

Many students utilized the Daemen Connect app to voice their opinions about the power outage.

“I feel like professors should give us an extension.”

“Who needs Tinder when you have the Daemen Connect app during a power outage?”

And “I’m ready to go back home” were some of the comments left by students in the app’s student feed.

Greg Nayor, vice president for strategic initiatives, responded to the students on the app, saying that “the wind took down some branches that knocked out a line” around campus.

He told the student body that the Wick Student Center would still be an option for dinner, starting at its regular time of 4:30 p.m. 

“I’m only doing this for expediency — the rest of our communications will be via our emergency communications and email … This is why I don’t have Snapchat,” said Nayor.

Electricity was finally turned on at about 4:30 p.m., with Nayor sending an email out to the student body. He warned students to prepare themselves for the possibility of another power outage due to the windy weather, and notified them that faculty has been asked to give students additional consideration for work that may have been lost or delayed.

“No matter what, you have a wonderful emergency response team, which includes our amazing Resident Assistant staff, that was working on all aspects of this. Several administrators and staff came to campus immediately to make sure people were not trapped in elevators, to check on students in quarantine, etc.  While we cannot control the weather, we can control our response.”

Nayor added, “I appreciate how active people were on Daemen Connect, but I would remind people to keep all posts clean and friendly for all students.”

No one was injured during the power outage, and the electricity is now operating smoothly on campus.