LOCAL VIEWPOINT: The blizzard, the braid, and BU

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 15/04/2022 (1428 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Early this week, the warnings were dire. Worst blizzard in decades. Life-threatening conditions. Widespread power outages. Do not travel.

How we reacted to these warnings and responded proactively, as a university and also as a society, says a lot of great things about us, and illustrates some strengths that we can apply elsewhere, if we are diligent.

The storm, thankfully, turned out to deliver a little less than feared — at least here in Brandon. Images and videos from North Dakota show what might have hit us if the storm hadn’t stalled a little further south than predicted. And many areas around Westman saw significantly more snow than Brandon did. It wasn’t a good couple of days to be out, and while nobody sings “I’m Dreaming of a White Easter,” it seems like that’s what we’ve got.

Brandon University was one of the many institutions and organizations who responded proactively to the forecasts. When we first reached out to campus on Monday to alert folks that we were preparing for the storm’s impact, by that time, many campus areas were already putting in place contingency plans of their own.

Some were rescheduling things, others were making plans to shift work remotely. Many were keeping some options open — knowing that remote work only works when the power and internet are on, and that child care or other responsibilities might loom large. In all of our response, we were guided by our ability to be flexible, nimble, and compassionate as a community — elements that informed the new BU Strategic Plan, which we launched this year.

The central image of this plan, which I’ve written about here before, is the Indigenous image of a braid. Rather than pillars or spires, our braid reminds us that BU’s strengths are flexible and interconnected. These were lessons that were reinforced repeatedly through the pandemic, as we needed to shift our response and our supports as our understanding of the virus improved. They are lessons that play to our innate strengths as a smaller, tight-knit institution located in a smaller, tight-knit community.

It’s rare, but not unprecedented, for Brandon University to close, and we have a lot to consider when making this decision.

Like other organizations, closing will affect our basic operations. How many classes, labs, or other academic activities will be affected? How can we make up these lost hours so that education isn’t impacted? Do we have to shift any deadlines? Luckily, this storm landed at a time in our academic calendar where most classes had ended, and most exams hadn’t yet begun.

Unlike many other organizations, Brandon University has some special considerations to make. Firstly, we have a significant number of students, and some faculty members, who are living in our residences. Our storm preparation made sure that our food services would be able to continue operating. Also, we have student and faculty research that sometimes requires 24-7 access. This was also safeguarded.

Our final consideration was the knowledge that, sometimes these dire storm predictions fizzle out. Typically, if weather rears its head, we would wait to make a call until first thing in the morning, or perhaps midday if the weather changes. Several things played into our decision to make an earlier call this time.

One big one was the clear communication from forecasters and Environment Canada that we needed to take this storm seriously. As we have done throughout the pandemic, we can put our trust in the experts and were guided by the science. Of course, predictions of the future are always imperfect, but weighing the various options showed we could significantly reduce risk at relatively low cost, and we know we made the right choice.

In the end, perhaps we received the best-case scenario out of this storm, but planning to get lucky is not good planning at all. There is a time for hope, but health and safety decisions are a time for clear-eyed analysis. We made and executed prudent plans that would keep people off the highways, where conditions were very poor, and safe at home.

I’m very proud of our team at Brandon University every day, but it’s moments like this storm where we are challenged, where we consider our options, and where we act decisively with the best interests of everyone in mind that I am the most proud. This flexibility, this resilience, this care and concern and community — this is what our braid means.

It is easy to write about a storm, or a pandemic, which are external crises that are thrust upon us. Most interesting, to me, are the opportunities we can choose, and how we can use the lessons of crisis response to eagerly take advantage of opportunities that present themselves.

Armed with our new strategic plan, Brandon University is ready to do just that.