LOCAL

Hurricane Ian: FSU and FAMU cancel classes; Florida State delays homecoming till 2023

Tarah Jean
Tallahassee Democrat

Local college students are getting the rest of the week off.

It started with Florida State University canceling classes and postponing homecoming as dangerous Hurricane Ian creeps ever closer and keeps forecasters guessing. Florida A&M University followed suit soon after. 

Tallahassee Community College will remain open for normal operations Tuesday and continues to monitor the hurricane.

IAN INCOMING

"It's very disappointing, of course, but above anything, it's important that students are safe," FSU Student Body President Nimna Gabadage told the Democrat. "We're hopeful that we'll be able to still have that homecoming experience at the rescheduled date. It might look a little different than it usually does, but it'll be just as good."

While both universities’ classes are cancelled Tuesday through Friday, FSU’s homecoming week, including its highly-anticipated parade that was set to take place Friday, is postponed to April 2023.

"Like everyone at Florida State University, the FSU Alumni team believes the safety of our students and alumni are the number one priority when you are making decisions in the face of a storm like this one," FSU Alumni Association President Julie Decker said in an email to the Democrat.

"We want everyone in our campus community – students, parents, alumni, and friends alike – to be safe and smart," she added.

Hurricane Ian in the headlines:

Besides canceled classes, FSU and FAMU updates also stated that other campus operations will remain open Tuesday and Wednesday before closing Thursday and Friday.

But with students still on campus, FSU will continue to provide on-campus services, including dining, for students throughout the closure by delivering box meals to the residence halls before the storm. FAMU will provide its residents with box meals in the event of inclement weather as well.

This weekend was also Parent and Family Weekend at FAMU, but that has been rescheduled to November 4-6.

Although FAMU's Venom Express Shuttles will not be running during the closure, the Renegade route of FSU's transportation services will be available Tuesday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., weather permitting. All other Seminole Express and Night Nole operations will be out of service until Monday, Oct. 3.

Florida State fans gather on campus to celebrate the Seminoles with the annual homecoming parade Friday, Oct. 22, 2021.

The extent of the impact that the storm will have on Tallahassee remains uncertain, which makes the toll it will take on both FSU and FAMU's home football games Saturday just as unclear.

Ian's impact on sports:

As FSU is scheduled to play against Wake Forest University on its four-game win streak and FAMU football players get ready to go up against Mississippi Valley State University, there are no updates on whether the games will be cancelled.

“The forecasts are very, very variable right now,” FSU Professor of Meteorology Mark Bourassa told the Democrat Monday before the closure update. He is an expert in surface water waves and identifying tropical disturbances.

“The problem is it'll probably be a couple of days until we have a better idea of where the storm will make landfall in Florida," he added.

A GOES satellite visualization of Hurricane Ian

Updates from other Florida colleges, universities

Before FSU and FAMU's announcement on its classes being cancelled for the rest of the week, a few other universities across the state of Florida have announced closures as well.

Here are the other universities in Florida so far along with the days of their canceled classes: 

  • University of Florida - Wednesday through Friday
  • University of South Florida - Monday through Thursday 
  • New College of Florida - Monday through Thursday 
  • Florida Gulf Coast University - Tuesday and Wednesday
  • Florida Polytechnic University - Tuesday through Friday
  • University of Central Florida - Wednesday through Friday

Contact Tarah Jean at tjean@tallahassee.com or follow her on twitter @tarahjean_. 

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UPDATE: Additional information has been added to this story about FAMU and FSU's dining services during their campus closures Thursday and Friday.