Chadron State College has canceled today’s Winter Commencement Ceremony, citing what President Dr Randy Rhine calls “the unprecedented winter storm Chadron is experiencing and in the interest of safety for all participants.”
Dr Rhine, who is retiring next summer, apologizes for the cancellation but says “there’s a limit to what we can do with this type of weather and we’ve reached it.”
All roads leading into and out of Chadron remained closed this morning because of drifting snow while snow removal efforts on campus wouldn’t be able to clear needed parking and other areas in time.
Rhine says crews at the college who on Tuesday began working to clear what would eventually be 16-to-20” of snow driven into large drifts by high winds were making good progress until a ground blizzard started yesterday.
It continued into this morning, creating new obstacles that the CSC crews couldn’t get cleared before the graduation ceremonies were to begin at 2:00.
President Rhine says canceling was especially hard for him as “Commencement is truly my favorite day of each semester because I know how much work goes into obtaining a degree.”
He adds that “Even though there isn’t a commencement exercise today, all of these graduates and their families and friends should be proud of their achievement.”
All students who were graduating today are encouraged to attend the Spring Commencement Ceremony in May and Rhine hopes that most, if not all, are able to do so. Those who do are asked to email cscrecords@csc.edu.