Due to the snow and ice storm that hit the Southeast region of the country this week, law schools in Atlanta; Austin; Chapel Hill, N.C.; and New Orleans had to close their doors, according to The National Law Journal.
“We’re of course accustomed to closing for hurricanes on occasion, but not for winter weather,” said David Meyer, dean of Tulane University Law School in New Orleans. Classes had to be canceeld on Tuesday and Wednesday due to the storm. “We’re unequipped for dealing with the roadways. That’s the real challenge.”
Meyer said that some students and administrators came to the campus despite the snow. Tulane will have to shift its schedule to makeup the missed classes. Meyer said that Tulane will hold some Saturday classes.
Schools that canceled classes or closed early due to the storm were Loyola University New Orleans School of Law; the University of Georgia School of Law; Emory University School of Law; the University of Texas School of Law; and the University of North Carolina School of Law.
In Chicago, the John Marshall Law School had to close its doors for a total of four days in January due to snow or extreme cold, according to spokeswoman Christine Kraly. Northwestern University School of Law will add two days to the end of its semester to makeup missing classes on the 6th and 7th of the month due to snow.
In the beginning of January, Fordham University School of Law was forced to close for two days because of a snowstorm. The school closed before the semester began, but missed courses again on January 21 and 22 because of more snow. Carrie Johnson, the assistant dean for communications, said that making up these days will not be as hard as it was when the school had to makeup days following Hurricane Sandy.
“The worst was obviously Hurricane Sandy,” she said. “Even when we reopened, students had a hard time getting here.”