Discussion was heated during last week’s Student Government Association (SGA) meeting when the students showed their discontent with how Hurricane Sandy was handled by the administration.

“The storm didn’t sneak up on anyone and to make a decision on classes late on Sunday and then on a day by day basis for Tuesday and Wednesday was inconsiderate and stressful for all students,” said Eastchester Resident Assistant junior Mark Pagano.

The President’s Cabinet held a meeting on Oct. 26, the Friday before the storm hit, to prepare for the hurricane and sent out emergency preparedness information that same day via email. The administration did not contact the students until Sunday to let them know that classes would be cancelled for Monday.

The worst of the superstorm hit Iona on Monday night. Residents in Rice Hall, the Eastchester Apartments and various on-campus houses were transported to Mulcahy gym after their buildings lost power.

“We asked students to get their property together, bring snacks, water, sleeping bag, pillow, blanket, that kind of a thing with them,” said Vice Provost for Student Development Charlie Carlson.

The students in the newly established East Hall lost their power as well, however the difference was that the generator kicked in so they could stay in their rooms. “Obviously Rice, being an older building, doesn’t have one [generator]; the apartments at Eastchester, being a building that we don’t own, doesn’t have one,” said Carlson.

Mulcahy gym had heat, power and all the basics for students to stay safe from the storm.

“The one issue is we don’t have cots,” said Carlson. Because the living situation was uncomfortable, residents were given the option to go to a location with power if they knew someone they could stay with there.

Residential students throughout campus were asked to remain indoors and stay away from windows to adhere to the “Shelter-In-Place” policy. According to the student handbook, “Shelter-In-Place” means “selecting a small, interior room if possible, with no or few windows, and taking refuge there,” however, “it does not mean sealing off your entire building.”

Students residing in the courtyard buildings were told that they would be documented if they were to leave the building, with the assumption that they would be judicially responsible.

When this change in policy was brought up to Carlson, he said, “Being very honest, do I think we can write someone up for choosing to [be] reckless and going out in a hurricane? I don’t know.”

After consulting with the Director of Residential Life, Carllos Lassiter, Carlson and Lassiter determined that there was a miscommunication about what the word “documentation” meant in this situation. When the directive reached the Residence Hall Directors and RAs, they were under the impression that it held the same meaning as when residents are written up for violating policy. In this instance, however, they only meant to keep track of students when they left a building. This would have ensured that the staff could keep the students as safe as possible.

The Iona community was kept up to date with the text messaging system and emails that followed. Preparedness and safety instruction was sent out for students to refer to. There are emergency plans in place for severe thunderstorms and tornadoes, but nothing specific to deal with the significant power outages that the campus faced. Therefore, the President’s Cabinet met consistently throughout the week to assess how to best handle the situation.

“Going forward, knowing that it can happen, I’d much rather buy 100 cots and never use them, than to go again and have people lay on the floor,” said Carlson, “I know Dr. Nyre has everybody being debriefed to see what could we do differently.”