The Gertrude C. Ford Ole Miss Student Union opened its generated warmth and electricity to students on Monday, Jan. 26 as a shelter from Winter Storm Fern. Though some students traveled to their hometowns to escape the icy aftermath, many stayed on campus and crafted community in the midst of the storm.
Classes on the Oxford campus at the University of Mississippi were closed from Monday, Jan. 26 until Friday, Feb. 6, and as the weeks went on, fewer and fewer students needed to use the Union’s resources. But on that first Monday, the Union was stuffed with students and their supplies.
Jakiyah Campbell, a junior radiology student from Winona, Miss., took advantage of the Union’s warmth alongside her friend Ke’Amber Conner, a junior law studies major from Noxubee County, Miss.
Campbell learned about the ice storm on Facebook, and her parents contacted her to express the severity of the situation.
“I had to go to the grocery store and start stacking up, and I couldn’t really get (anything) because they were out of everything. I got some things but not enough; I couldn’t do (anything) with it,” Campbell said.
Campbell lives at The Suites Oxford, and prior to braving the ice for the Union alongside Conner, she was surviving off Flamin’ Hot Cheetos, Doritos and saltine crackers. Conner’s conditions at Rev Oxford Student Apartments were not better.
“I do not have power,” Conner said. “Our hot water is not working; we have been taking cold showers. (And we have been) bundling up under like three to five covers and layers of clothes.”
Conner and Campbell did not have a ride to campus before Monday, Jan. 26, and when they arrived, the Union’s power was temporarily out, which meant they were unable to charge their devices. To pass the time — and fill their stomachs — they ventured over to Rebel Market, where UM allowed anyone to eat for free over the two weeks that campus was closed.
Conner and Campbell ended up stationed on the bottom floor of the Union, where they brought their essentials to stay the night.
“I brought a toothbrush,” Campbell said. “And I’ve got my shower things.”
Conner, in addition to toiletries, packed up several devices to charge.
A family on the make-shift, reorganized Union couches offered Campbell and Conner food they had to spare.
Below a television set in the food court area sat another group of friends. But in addition to similar necessities as Conner’s and Campbell’s, an orange tabby cat named Garfella sat perched on a Union table.
“My best friend brought (Garfella) … for me, because she’s my roommate. … (Garfella) was gonna stay at the apartment for the night. And we finally convinced (my roommate) to come and bring both the kittens with her, and she did,” Syrianna Jones, a sophomore special education major, said inches away from Garfella and her other roommate’s cat. “I didn’t think about litter and everything, so I’m just gonna see what happens.”
Jones, like Conner, lives at Rev Oxford. She, alongside her roommates, were trekking over to campus until a police officer offered them a ride to the Union.
Garfella was one of many pets at the Union over the two weeks it was open. Jones says she did not expect the ice storm to have the impact it had.
“I feel like this is apocalyptic times,” Jones said. “It’s so spooky outside. There’s no power anywhere — that’s scary.”
The Union, alongside several dormitories, were not without power. In fact, that evening, several food trucks were open, too. Munchies Chicken and Waffles was one of the trucks open for students, first come, first serve. Hundreds of students placed their order for a hot meal while available, offering some sense of normalcy.
Among those in the Grubhub queue was freshman psychology major and RC South resident Matthew Cronin.
“I don’t have a roommate, but I’ve got a friend who’s been crashing with me these past couple of days,” Cronin, a Brandon, Miss., native said. “We’re at the Union right now. … We’re just trying to stay somewhere warm while we wait on (our food) to get ready.”
Cronin admitted that he did not heed the warnings issued about Winter Storm Fern, and he paid for it in hunger.
“As much as I don’t wanna admit it, I had multiple people tell me — beginning of the week — ‘Stock up on food,’” Cronin said. “I was like, ‘Ah, it’s not gonna be that bad.’ So I’ve eaten through most of my food already.”
With his friend, multi-disciplinary studies major Jackson Herrera from Water Valley, Miss., to his right in the Union, Cronin shared how he had witnessed the community come together on campus.
“There’s been a lot more talking to people,” Cronin said. “We ran into people who were sledding with Tupperware containers, cardboard boxes, duffle bags — whatever — and they’ll let you use their stuff. And we were all just sledding together down the hills.”
Though the Ole Miss campus faced devastating damage to its trademark flora, among many other negative effects, Jones was grateful for the connection that she was granted with her peers.
“It’s really forcing you to go out and make connections because after freshman year, when you’re not really on campus, it’s easy to let go of that,” Jones said. “But having this time right now, it’s great, and especially having to rely on each other too, as a community for resources and everything, that’s bringing us closer together.”
