LEXINGTON, Ky. — A weekend with a potentially icy winter forecast has Transylvania University speeding up its move-in, allowing students to return early.

What You Need To Know

  • Plans are underway to get students back on campus safely at Transylvania University

  • Transy students are moving in two days before the scheduled move-in day

  • The school’s move-in day was originally planned for Sunday

  • Students will start class either in-person or remotely on Monday, Jan. 6, depending on weather conditions

Transy students will have two extra days to settle back into their dorms before the first severe winter weather of the season.

Quincy Elliott is a sophomore who’s helping with resident life. He says the school focuses on security for students and faculty even while they’re away. 

“Student safety is one of their top priorities here to make sure every student is safe and they have the opportunities to come back when it is necessary or it just provides them a better safety opportunity,” Elliott said. 

It’s why they are ending their energy-saving holiday break plans to be extra cautious. Offices close before Christmas and reopen in early January for their annual “campus hibernation.”

Transy says it has saved the school over $1.5 million in utility bills.

Megan Maloney is the vice president of marketing and communications and said initially students were scheduled to move in Sunday with classes beginning Monday. 

“We’re ramping things back up now, as we have folks on campus and are coming in for various activities, all of those devices are getting plugged back in and we’re getting ready for what should be a very interesting weekend in terms of the weather forecast,” Maloney shared. 

After seeing the forecast, the school wanted to give students the chance to avoid challenging conditions, both traveling and moving in. 

Elliott added, “Even the 80% of students in Kentucky who attend Transy don’t all live in Lexington. So we have students coming in from, you know, inside of Kentucky, the surrounding states. And as far as the east and west coasts. So if they have the chance to get in early and don’t have to travel on Sunday, we want to make sure they can do that.”

Elliott says while every move-in day looks different, there is always a community to help. “

Everyone here on campus is friends, or they know somebody that knows somebody. So just being able to have that community and people that support you. 24 seven it’s just a unique thing,” he said.

Maloney says staff will keep monitoring the winter weather and are aiming to decide to have in-person or remote classes by Monday morning at six a.m. at the latest.   

For those looking to stay up to date on the announcement, you can find details on the school’s social pages and on the school’s website. 

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