Faculty Ride Out Historic Ice Storm On Campus
By Carolyn Treloar
Lemke Ledger Staff
Journalism faculty and students played games, watched movies and worked while seeking refuge in the "Kimpel Hall Condos" for nearly a week in January during the most damaging ice storm in UA history.
Journalism Professor Katherine Shurlds and her husband, David Young, arrived at Kimpel Hall Wednesday evening because they had no heat at their house and all the hotels in the area had been booked for the night. They thought they would be the only ones staying at Kimpel Hall and were planning to "lay low because it wasn’t a homeless shelter" Shurlds said.
The couple planned to sleep in the department reading room with their cocker spaniel, Pearl, but when they arrived they discovered Professor Hoyt Purvis’s wife, Mary, and found that she and Purvis planned to sleep there too.
Ice blankets the trees in front of Old Main during the January ice
storm that left faculty and students holed up in various locations
on campus, including Kimpel Hall. — Meagan Abell/Ledger
Shurlds and Young moved to the lobby outside her office and set couch cushions on the floor for Young while she slept on a nearby couch. The couch was narrow so Shurlds placed chairs on one side so she wouldn’t fall off. They hung a blanket over the door and put a poster on the windowsill to block out a hallway light that remained lit, Shurlds said.
"Everything was great except the sleeping arrangements," she said.
Journalism professors Dale Carpenter and Larry Foley were also ice storm refugees staying in Kimpel Hall. They referred to their offices as the "Urban Loft," where they worked on their documentary while their wives talked and watched movies.
Foley’s wife, Susan, came prepared with snacks, games and DVDs, Carpenter said. The first night they played Trivial Pursuit and ate popcorn in the reading room with Purvis and Mary, he said.
The couples stayed in Kimpel Hall through Saturday night, but Foley and Susan returned to campus the next day to watch the Super Bowl because their cable at home still wasn’t working.
In addition to faculty, some journalism students stayed at Kimpel Hall. UATV Manger Daniel Phillips bunked down in the UATV room because he didn’t want to impose on any of his friends. By Thursday, he had practically moved in. He was having visitors and was using a microwave on the third floor to cook meals. He attempted to make hot chocolate using water from the faucets but failed. He referred to his temporary home as the “UATV Homeless Shelter."
"It was fun, but I don’t want to do it again," Carpenter said.