Friday the thirteenth: a day of superstitions, unlucky events, human fear and a concept that Hollywood adores for horror movie plot lines.
Whether myth or fact, Friday the thirteenth means something different to each individual, and for those who believe in the superstitions surrounding the day, this Friday the thirteenth on Lipscomb’s campus will be one to stray away from.
At approximately 11:00 PM this evening, the campus will go black, a chill will be in the air as temperatures drop to low sixties and every creak and whisper in the wind will be heard from Bison Hall to High Rise.
To parents, this may appear as the campus’s way of promoting Halloween spirit. However, that is not the case this time around, and it is actually a lot more serious. Lipscomb has an urgent need to replace a failing transformer that helps bring power to the campus.
“We regret any inconvenience this may cause, and we do not schedule outages like this unless there is an absolute urgent need,” said Mr. Jeff Wilson, Director of Service Operations in an email to students last week.
In the same email from Wilson, it stated that the goal is to have the power back up and running by 10:00 AM tomorrow morning. Though, the email also stated that they cannot guarantee this time or the exact length of the outage.
During the outage there will be no heating, air conditioning, lights, phone charging capabilities, or hot water. In addition, locations on campus such as Beaman Library, Au Bon Pain, Starbucks and Bison Café will open later than normal, depending on when power returns.
In an email that was sent out this afternoon, Mr. Josh Roberts, Dean of Student Development stated, “Please be aware that beginning at 10:00 PM this evening and continuing until 6:00 AM on Saturday morning, vehicles will only be allowed to enter campus via the Sewell Hall entrance on Granny White Pike or the McFarland Hall entrance on Belmont Blvd.”
Wilson and other campus officials felt as though replacing the transformer at this time would minimize interruption to campus life. Students such as freshman Emily Hebert who originates from a long distances begs to differ.
“I don’t have access to go home because I live 17 hours away and I don’t have money to stay in a hotel. I’m kind of stranded if friends don’t invite me over,” Hebert stated. “I don’t get why they can’t wait until thanksgiving break.”
For the past week, Residence Hall Directors have been encouraging students who are not going home for break to at least find an alternate boarding location for the evening.
Hebert added, “I’m lucky because I’ve been blessed with welcoming friends who have opened up their home for me and other girls to stay in, but for those who don’t have this opportunity, the school is really putting them out with this power outage.”
While Hebert is too far away from home, sophomore Autumn Collins, simply does not have the choice to leave campus because of her responsibilities as an RA in Elam.
“I have to sit and monitor the dorm in the lobby until 2:00 AM to make sure that everyone is safe. Because the power is out we don’t have lights in the dorm and doing room checks will be extra difficult when I can’t see if there’s a body in the room,” Collins said.
Although the power outage is not ideal for anyone, Collins has tried to find a positive in the situation.
Collins added that a perk of the power outage is that she gets to have a sleepover with her friends so that they can fear and take on the dark together.
It may be a dark and eerie Friday the thirteenth on Lipscomb’s campus, but at least the campus will have power in the future should it be needed in an emergency.