After the extended Thanksgiving break from Nov. 21 through Nov. 30 due to repairs on the high-temperature hot water (HTHW) pipe system, students, faculty and staff anticipated their return to Oakland University on Dec. 1. Information for returns was sent to students on Nov. 26 detailing the expectations for the following week.
The communication email explained that the university planned to resume normal operations at 5 a.m. Monday, Dec. 1, with University Housing reopening to residents as scheduled Sunday afternoon.
However, these plans for reopening campus were put on hold after the university communicated to the OU community that a new leak had emerged due to temperature and pressure fluctuations, affecting around 20 buildings and halting returns to campus, including student housing.
On Dec. 1, the official emergency campus closure in effect during the break ended as planned, but the university shifted to modified operations out of necessity. This left most of OU’s campus largely empty, with only students in the operating residence halls and essential faculty, staff and student employees on campus.
With over 15,000 students and only a couple of weeks left in the semester before finals, the campus would normally be filled with activity. Instead, only a small number of students were present, and the campus remained very quiet and still after the closure ended.
Reactions from the Oakland University community reflect their thoughts on the campus closure and return.
“I will say my office is freezing.”
Senior IT major Gabrielle Germanski shared her experience returning to campus for the first time after the closure while working as a tech support associate in the computing technology office.
“There’s no one here,” Germanski said. “I don’t know, I’m not really getting any tickets right now, kind of just like freezing in my office.”
On her way to her office, while speaking with The Oakland Post, Germanski also mentioned that she had brought a heated blanket with her to work to help battle the cold temperatures.
“This feels good, actually.”
Gabrielle Lee, a freshman living at Oak View Hall, expressed the bright side of the campus closure and the sparsity of students on campus.
“When I walk around campus, it’s peaceful and I get to talk to myself while looking around and see how OU is so beautiful and get to see the atmosphere,” Lee said.
While some students are having a difficult time with the closure and the reduced campus activity, others, like Lee, are using this time as an opportunity to find some peace and quiet on campus.
Lee is also able to stay on campus, as Oak View Hall has heating during this time.
“It feels good to have heat,” Lee said. “I do kinda feel bad for people who don’t have heat on campus, but hey, I guess stuff happens.”
“We were supposed to do a lab, but it got cancelled when I got here.”
With OU communications changing frequently, students and faculty are still adjusting to how to handle their courses, especially lab work, while managing schedules and completing assignments.
Alexander Doskoris, a senior biology major, had commuted to campus for a lab in his class, but after arriving on campus, he was told by his professor that it was cancelled.
“She cancelled it when I got her around 10:30 a.m.,” Doskoris said.
Last-minute changes to schedules and course expectations are occurring across campus as confusion grows over which buildings are available during repairs.
“I’m mostly doing all of my class work online now.”
Due to the building being affected by the leak in the pipe system, many professors are simply opting out of in-person classes and moving their coursework online.
“For my ASL class, we were going to present a song in person this week, but now we have to record ourselves and submit it,” sophomore Ronza Somo said. “It’s really more of an in-person class because we practice with our professor and each other, but we have to do it online now,”
Somo also mentioned that as a clinical and diagnostic student, she has lab work and has had professors encouraging her to come to campus for labs, but the building restrictions make it confusing.
“It’s crushing because I have to tell people to leave.”
The Oakland Center, one of the buildings affected, is a popular spot for students to study and hang out, but it was restricted to appointment-only visits.
The Oakland Post spoke to Nick Devic, the student employed front desk attendant at the only open entrance of the Oakland Center, who was monitoring people entering the building.
“It’s sad to see,” Devic said, “I like coming here to study too, but it’s sad that everything needs to be closed down. It’s definitely colder with everyone trying to open the doors here; you can definitely feel the breeze coming in.”
The unexpected campus closure serves as unprecedented and confusing times for everyone in the OU community. For further clarification and updates on the situation, visit The Oakland Post or the official Oakland University hot water repair updates.
