In-Person Meetings for Day Classes are Cancelled for Thursday, February 6, 2025; Classes Taking Place at 4 p.m. or later Being Held As Scheduled.
Classes Beginning at 4 p.m. or Later
Classes that begin at 4 p.m. and later today are being held as scheduled.
As environments vary in different parts of the State, commuting students should utilize their best judgement when deciding whether to come to campus and faculty are asked to be flexible in accommodating student requests during inclement weather, defining alternatives or makeup provisions as needed. Similarly, faculty members who must change their class format should notify impacted students by e-mail immediately and define what their alternate delivery approach will be.
Classes Beginning Prior to 4 p.m.
As previously announced, all in-person day classes on Thursday, February 6, 2025 are cancelled. All scheduled in-person classes beginning before 4 p.m. will transition to being held online or remotely. Additional information on the virtual format for each class will be provided by the instructor.
Faculty have been asked to prepare for Online or Remote sessions in the event of in-person meeting cancellations. These options will be determined by the Faculty member and all questions should be directed to the Faculty teaching each course section. Faculty also have been asked to be very understanding and accommodating of the individual situations of their students who may have difficulty managing these alternative online or remote class meetings on short notice.
Please note that only essential employees, as previously determined by their respective department leaders, should report to campus Thursday. All other employees should fulfill the requirements of their role remotely.
Campus operations for residential students, unless otherwise noted, will operate as scheduled, though hours may be modified or changed based on the conditions. Separate messages will be sent from the Peterson Library, the Beckerman Recreation Center, and Dining Services regarding any changes to their normal hours of operation. The Bergami Center for Science, Technology, and Innovation will remain open Thursday for residential students to use for study space and to participate in online classes.
Residential students should be prepared to move their vehicles, if requested, for snow removal operations.
The VEX Robotics competition was an exciting opportunity for STEM students to apply what they’ve learned in a real-world setting. Erik Parker ’25, president of the University’s Robotics Club, reflects on the exciting experience.
February 16, 2024
By Erik Parker ’25
The competition was held at the Beckerman Recreation Center.
As an advocate for advancing STEM education, I firmly believe that STEM serves as the cornerstone for global progress. In my view, everyone should have access to opportunities within the realm of STEM. VEX Robotics, an educational robotics system made for this exact reason, provides students with avenues to explore competitive robotics in ways never before possible.
We recently hosted a competition event in the Beckerman Recreation Center, providing 38 teams of local high school students with a way to show off their STEM skills. Organizing this event was a team effort between my team and the faculty. The Robotics Club e-board took charge of recruiting a group of people to help with set-up and teardown and boy did we need them. We showed up with a small army of approximately 35 people and jumped into action. A few hours of work later, the Beckerman Center was transformed into a robotics competition area fit for nearly 200 students.
Along with gathering a group of volunteers, we designed and crafted medals for the competitors to go along with their trophies. Robotics e-board member Marc Santacapita ’25 designed the medals, which were then 3D printed with resin technology, providing a high-quality finished product to hand out to the competitors.
The event was fun way for students to apply their STEM skills.
‘Real-world STEM applications’
During the event, my team and I juggled several tasks, including field reset, team queueing, managing the skills field, and so much more. It's worth emphasizing that none of this would have been possible without the exceptional dedication of the entire team. Despite the relentless demands of the day, they rose to the occasion admirably, ensuring the event ran seamlessly from start to finish.
After a long two days, only cleanup remained. Despite exhaustion and without a single complaint, my team had no hesitation to jump in and start tearing down the fields. Bill McDonough, representing VEX from the Connecticut Technology Engineering Education Association, mentioned that our event was one of the smoothest he’d experienced.
Students collaborate during the competition.
I am immensely grateful for my incredible team for making this whole event possible and for providing students with an event to engage with real-world STEM applications.