Photo by Andreas Pelekis for The Lafayette

Workers from IB Abel install a new utility pole along the Karl Stirner Arts Trail, replacing one that had split in half.

A 27-hour-long power outage on Lafayette College’s main campus saw most classes canceled or held online Monday, and non-essential staff asked to stay home. The outage, which began Sunday evening, was the result of tree damage to two electrical poles. By Monday morning, campus generators appeared to fully power most dorms and academic buildings, though electricity was not properly restored until late that night.

“Our decisions were based on the information we had available at the time and the need to prioritize safety, as we could not risk students, faculty, and staff being in buildings without reliable power,” Executive Vice President for Finance and Administration Audra Kahr wrote in an email.

The outage came nine days after the last, when most of the campus lost power Halloween evening and stayed dark for more than a day.

“If we’re thinking overall college experience, this shouldn’t happen point-blank,” said Quynh-Anh Nguyen ‘29, one of many students displeased with the back-to-back outages. “I feel like they need to assess maybe a root problem because clearly, this consistently happens every year.”

Nguyen did note that she used the day off to catch up on some “well-needed rest.”

For the Lafayette volleyball team — which had been mid-match against Colgate University on the team’s Senior Night when the power fizzled out — the outage was an abrupt pause to its senior night.

“We just sat there wondering, ‘What are we gonna do?’” said team member Rebecca Baldwin ‘29.

An hour later, the game would pick back up in the Phillipsburg High School gymnasium. The Leopards ultimately dropped the match in straight sets.  

“No one wants to spend their senior night away from the gym they’ve been playing in for all four years,” Baldwin said.

Power outages are not infrequent at the college. In September 2022, after two outages left several residence halls in full blackout for well over a day, the college pledged to make changes to mitigate similar incidents in the future. Both outages, like the two this month, were caused by tree damage to utility poles and power lines; one immediate promise was to remove “precarious trees and tree limbs.” 

“We’ve made sure that we do our part in maintaining the campus, the things that we own,” college President Nicole Hurd said. One of the culprits behind Sunday’s blackout was a damaged utility pole near the Leopard Parking Deck, while another pole that split in half and required full replacement was located off campus by the Karl Stirner Arts Trail.

The largest fix promised in 2022 — a second campus-wide generator and an automatic transfer switch within 18 months — never came to fruition.

“We have missed the 18-month mark, but it’s not like it went away,” Hurd said, who noted that the generator was added to the campus master plan. “We did all the due diligence to implement it. But it’s got a price tag that is an eight-figure number.”

“It’s on the docket of things we need to do,” she continued.

Bailey Health Center and two dining locations — Marquis Dining Hall and Cinco — were open and fully functional on Monday. Many other buildings appeared to be open with full or partial power, including Markle Hall, though the day’s admissions tours were canceled. Several professors convened their classes in person despite a campus-wide email encouraging faculty to either cancel classes or host them remotely.

Clara Witmer ‘27 contributed reporting.