USF’s first day of spring classes darkened by power outages

Classes were held outside the Muma College of Business and the Zimmerman School of Advertising and Mass Communications on Monday at around 10 a.m. due to power outages. ORACLE PHOTO/CLARA ROKITA GARCIA

As Jillian Borie walked to the first day of spring classes, she had to take out her phone flashlight when she faced dark hallways and alarm beeps. 

“I walked into the communications building, and it was completely dark,” the junior mass communications major said. “I thought it was really weird that everyone was standing in the hallway.”

A blown transformer caused power outages across the USF Tampa campus on Monday, USF spokesperson Althea Johnson said.

Although USF officials would not confirm how many buildings were affected, some without power included the Zimmerman School of Advertising and Mass Communications, the Library, The Village and Holly Apartments.

Facilities staff “immediately” responded and started addressing the outage, said Aaron Nichols, a spokesperson for USF Facilities.

USF Housing said the university was working with TECO to resolve the issue “as quickly as possible.”

However, around 3 p.m. on Monday, the university announced in an email that the east side of campus was still being affected. This included the University Lecture Hall, the Social Sciences Building, the Food Services Building, where the Sessums Mall Chick-fil-A is located, and other buildings.

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Borie said her radio and podcasting professor decided to walk students outside the Zimmerman School of Advertising and Mass Communications around 9:30 a.m. because it was better to have class in the “nice” winter weather than in the dark.

The class, however, took less than 30 minutes.

Students introduced themselves, and the professor paraphrased as much as he could remember from his syllabus, Borie said. After that, the class was dismissed.

“The professor just kind of gave us an overview of what to expect for the semester since he couldn’t really pull anything up or show any examples,” she said.

Students were advised to contact their professors through Canvas if they learned there was no power in their class building to discuss where to meet instead.

Johnson said the university could not provide a number of canceled classes.

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Nhi McClure said she was supposed to have her international wine and culture class at the Muma College of Business. However, when she got to the building around 9:30 a.m. and only saw darkness, her professor decided to evacuate students.

“We even went inside the classroom and turned on some flashlights, but then our teacher took us outside,” the freshman biomedical sciences major said.

McClure said the students then sat outside the Judy Genshaft Honors College, where they introduced themselves and briefly discussed the class

Just like Borie’s class, McClure’s also ended early.

“It was scary and strange when we got to the classroom, but when we moved outside, it was still engaging,” McClure said.

Borie had a different outlook. She said it was “funny” and “very interesting” to have a power outage on the first day of classes.

The university did not provide comment on how much longer it will take for power to fully restore on campus at the time of publication.

Student residents can submit a “work order” to USF Facilities if they experience any power outages in their residence hall or dorms, according to a USF Housing email.

CLARA ROKITA GARCIA, NEWS EDITOR

Clara Rokita Garcia is the news editor for The Oracle. She's an integrated public relations and advertising student double majoring in English with literary studies concentration. She grew up in Brazil and moved to the U.S in fall 2022. She started at The Oracle in fall 2023 as a news correspondent intern. She is highly motivated to write creative and helpful stories for USF students. Reach her at clararokitagarcia@usf.edu.

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