No Snow Day for UT

When I started teaching at the University of Tennessee in 2006, a colleague told me that UT rarely closes for snow days. Since I have been here, the university has only delayed opening for two hours one day, and this was after I had driven on icy roads to teach my 8 a.m. class, only to receive a text message when I pulled into the parking garage letting me know about the delay. What perfect timing!

Some UT students have suggested that UT rarely closes for snow days because of a snowball fight near campus that happened more than 40 years ago and is attributed to three deaths. The administration has denied this is why UT never closes, but it is still an interesting story. I told my students to research the snowball fight, and they found articles in two local papers, The Knoxville News Sentinel and The Daily Beacon
written several years ago that recount what happened on February 25, 1965.

Essentially, UT students were on Cumberland Avenue near campus (the equivalent of University Avenue in Gainesville for my Gator friends) and throwing snowballs. At some point, the students apparently opened the door to a truck that was driving on Cumberland and started throwing snowballs at the driver. He reacted by taking the gun he carried in his truck and shooting into the crowd of students, fatally wounding a male student. He was tried for murder, but was not convicted. The city of Knoxville was outraged about the students' behavior. You can read about the other two deaths that are blamed on the snowball fight by clicking on the story links in the above paragraph.

I've never been a part of a snowball fight since I grew up in Florida, so it's hard to imagine that what seems like innocent children's play could lead to death. But if the circumstances are right, anything can happen at any time.