‘A Charlie Brown’ January:

Students spend day off in the snow, classes go remote Jan. 22

By Sarah Knowlton     1/19/25 8:15pm

Classes and normal campus operations halted on Tuesday, Jan. 21, due to a winter storm watch, Rice Emergency Management announced Jan. 19. Areas of Houston received up to four inches of snow. Classes and work on Wednesday, Jan. 22, will go remote, Emergency Management announced on Tuesday.

Entry to buildings, including the Rice Memorial Center, was limited to those with swipe access. Campus bus service will be suspended until roads are safe to travel, the announcement read. 

North and Seibel serveries remained open with limited operation hours on Tuesday and Wednesday. Retail dining options were also restricted both days. Fondren Library was closed on Tuesday, but is open Wednesday from noon to 5 p.m. The Gibbs Recreation and Wellness Center was also closed but is open from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Wednesday. The pool will remain closed until Thursday, Jan. 23.

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Residential colleges are open to off-campus students wishing to stay in their colleges during the storm. Students were asked to arrive at their colleges by 6 p.m. on Monday, Jan. 20 to avoid ice on roads. Several colleges, including Duncan and Jones, also disseminated spreadsheets via GroupMe to volunteer rooms and suites to off-campus students.

For some students, Tuesday morning was their first time seeing snow. James Puckett, a Will Rice College junior from Brownsville, Texas said the experience was cinematic.

“Seeing snow for the first time made me feel like I was in ‘A Charlie Brown Christmas,” Puckett wrote in a message to the Thresher. “I did all the things I’ve seen the Peanuts characters do throughout my childhood, like walking to school with friends in a flurry of snow, making a snowman and throwing snowballs around at each other. It was a blast.”

Almost a year ago exactly, Rice similarly halted campus operations for “severe winter weather.” And four years ago, a severe winter storm that impacted Houston and left many without power and water. CenterPoint Communications Manager Michelle Hundley told ABC13 that this year, CenterPoint Energy brought in more employees and contractors in anticipation of the storm. The company also updated its online power outage map, she said. ABC13 later reported that Tuesday saw approximately 3,000 outages across southeast Texas.

Many students spent their day off outdoors, sledding in Hermann Park or building snowmen outside of their colleges. In the late morning, students flocked to the academic quad for a campus-wide snowball fight, which ended with possible disciplinary action.

Rice University Police Department officers arrived after groups of students went to the rooftop of Lovett Hall — at least nine students were on the roof at once, according to a drone photo from the university.

“RUPD received a concerned call earlier today about a group of students being on top of the roof of Lovett Hall and sliding down it,” police chief Clemente Rodriguez wrote in a statement to the Thresher. “Officers responded, took the names of the students, and referred them to [Student Judicial Programs].”

A student who was on the roof with a friend confirmed that RUPD, upon arrival, took their names and information. The student requested anonymity due to a potential ongoing investigation.

“RUPD gathered students at the top of the stairs, just inside the window used to reach the roof. Two RUPD officers took photos of everyone’s student IDs and let them leave one at a time,” the student wrote to the Thresher. 

“We were stressed because it was unclear how seriously RUPD viewed the situation, and it put a damper on a fun snowy morning.”

“It’s important that we all stay safe, especially during extreme weather days,” Rodriguez wrote.

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