Cold weather rages, JJC closes

The second week of the Spring 2019 semester has undoubtedly been rocky, as the Chicagoland area was hit with record low temperatures. JJC has been forced to close its doors for almost half the week and cancel all campus activities.

Perhaps the biggest news story of the week of Jan. 21, not just locally but nationally as well, was the incoming freezing weather that has since affected the majority of the Midwest, particularly Chicago.

Jan. 30 saw approximate temperatures around negative 20 degrees but with the wind chill it got to as low as negative 50 degrees, worsening the situation. Dubbed the “Polar Vortex,” this extreme chill cancelled and delayed flights to and from O’Hare airport and forced most schools post offices, libraries, other government buildings and stores in the area to close, and residents were strongly advised to stay inside.

“Chiberia,” the nickname that emerged after it was reported that Chicago was colder than Siberia, Antarctica, Mount Everest, and ridiculously enough, even Mars, made national news with the hashtag #PolarVortex2019 trending on social media. The weather nearly broke Chicago’s all-time record for the coldest day in the city’s history, which still remains Jan. 20, 1985, at negative 27 degrees.

Closer to home, Joliet and its surrounding suburbs have seen about the same weather, and JJC closed its doors early on Jan. 29, at 4 p.m. and canceled classes for Jan. 30 and Jan. 31.

This also meant that all respective activities were canceled or postponed, including Mainstreet, JJC’s club recruitment fair held at the beginning of every semester.

“The weather kind of caused what I’m calling a ‘Mainstreet mishap,’” Student Activities Coordinator Amy Sims jokingly said.

“This is the first year ever that we’ve had to cancel and postpone Mainstreet,” Director of Student Activities Pam Dilday responded.

“It’s very sad, because it’s a really big event for us and a lot of the clubs rely heavily on Mainstreet as an opportunity for them to recruit new members.”

Although JJC has seen weather like this before and has had to close as a result, it has been quite rare, and never has it so severely affected campus life.

“It doesn’t happen very often. But when you pull from the biggest district – like the size of the district that we have – it makes sense,” Dilday added.

“We were all expecting and pretty much prepared for Wednesday [to be closed] and thinking, ‘Well, we’ll just move it to Thursday and Friday.’ Not ideal, but still we could do it. And then when they closed on Thursday we were like, ‘Okay…’”

Those disappointed in Mainstreet’s cancellation need not worry, however; Mainstreet is still on, albeit with a slight change-up. Instead of two fully days of the event with every club available to discuss and recruit, the Office of Student Activities have opted to host “mini-Mainstreets.”

“Because JJC has a very full schedule around campus in general, it was very hard for us to find another possible date to host [such a] large event,” Sims explained.

“We were able to find four dates, we were able to book the C-Concourse, and we’re going to allow clubs to still come out and at least… promote [themselves] and their efforts.”

The mini-Mainstreets will take place in the C-Concourse on Thursday, Feb. 7, from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. and from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 11, Wednesday, Feb. 13, and Thursday, Feb. 14. Groups can reserve tables in advance.  

It certainly has been one hectic week for both Chicago and its suburban residents. Although many residents may have wanted to take Stephen Colbert’s advice and sandwich (no pun intended) themselves between two Portillo’s Italian beefs for the rest of the week, Feb. 1 saw Chicago and Joliet weather return to its usual 20 degrees, with lingering snow and some sun.

JJC reopened on Friday as well, with classes and student activity resuming. The coming weeks seem to have much warmer weather in store, with temperatures climbing back up to the 40s and 50s. Hopefully, this means better days for JJC and perhaps, as Punxsutawney Phil has predicted, an early spring.