Sun, snow, ice, rain, sleet, earthquake, zombie apocalypse, Wilkes University will keep its doors open. To top it all off, students will have to fight off the zombies while slipping on the ice, without the courtesy of a condensed schedule.

Dramatics aside, the first two weeks of the spring semester in good old northeastern Pennsylvania were filled with snow, ice and below-zero wind chills. With inclement weather on the rise, students were glued to their phones, anxiously awaiting some type of cancellation or delay.

However, despite local school closures and warnings of the weather, Wilkes remained open. On the first day of classes, students were met with at least four inches of snow that they had to walk through. Students felt fortunate to receive a condensed schedule; however, as they got to campus, there were hardly any sidewalks shoveled and the parking lots were barely plowed.

The weather, although inconvenient for students on campus, was a little more manageable than it was for commuter students. On the first day of classes, many commuter students were unable to come to class due to the terrible road conditions.

Bad weather also attacked the campus that same Friday with another few inches of snow and slippery sidewalks. However, students were met with no condensed schedule, and, once again, the sidewalks were hardly shoveled and the parking lots were barely plowed. Students also reported there being little to no salt on the sidewalks.

Luckily, the university stated that all classes after 1 p.m. would be canceled. Although this felt like good news, the issue was that this alert came to students at 12:45 p.m., which was far too close to 1 p.m. Many commuter students were already on campus when the alert was issued, and many faculty members who had afternoon classes were already on campus or on their way to campus to teach.

According to the Department of Transportation, over 1,300 people are killed and more than 116,800 people are injured in vehicle accidents due to snowy, icy or slushy roads and pavements annually. Many students are concerned that without the proper action taken by the university in inclement weather, these statistics could someday include our students, faulty and staff.

Some may say students on campus are overreacting, however, the argument among the students is that they would have no problem coming to class in inclement weather if they felt the campus was able to keep up with taking proper precautions.

If people have to come to classes in inclement weather, parking lots should be properly plowed, salt should be continuously placed on the sidewalks and the sidewalks should be properly shoveled. This way, no students are injured on their way to class and feel safe.

During the first two weeks of classes, the argument around campus was that students felt unsafe on campus during the inclement weather because the university seemed to not have take enough precautions to ensure their safety during this weather.

Wilkes University, if there is inclement weather, please ensure that the students feel safe on campus and take the necessary precautions. If these precautions cannot happen, then please cancel class. The commuters need to be considered, especially since many commuters attend the university.

It is always better to be safe than sorry, after all.