During the weekend of November 8, Franklin & Marshall College faced a rare campus power outage, leaving students and staff without electricity for more than two days. The outage, which began early Saturday morning and stretched until Monday, forced campus administrators to cancel classes and evacuate Roschel College House, the only College residence hall without emergency power supplied by a generator. On Monday morning, thanks to the efforts of F&M staff and utility crews, the lights returned. Classes resumed on Tuesday, restoring a sense of normalcy to campus after an uncertain start to the week.
The outage began on Saturday, November 8. At approximately 9:30 a.m., a transformer supplying power to campus failed, cutting electricity to campus buildings. In response, Chief of Police Jonathan Rosnick convened F&M’s Emergency Preparedness & Resiliency Team and established a command post to coordinate the College’s response. F&M’s network of emergency generators provided power to most critical systems, including most residence halls, though Roschel College House was left without power, and students were evacuated. Housing staff reportedly offered some students access to the option of a complimentary stay at a local Marriott, relocation to another College residence hall, or staying with a friend on campus, though several Roschel students said they did not receive these accommodations. As other campus buildings lacked power, F&M administrators cancelled all on-campus events and closed the libraries on November 8 and 9. Dining in the Steinman College Center and the Diplomatic Cafe was suspended, prompting F&M administrators to extend dining hall hours from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.
Administrators originally sought to restore power on Sunday, November 9, though that evening, administrators noted power restoration was taking longer than expected, and would continue into Monday, November 10. Roschel College House was closed for a second night, and F&M administrators made the rare decision to cancel classes for Monday, November 10. Additionally, freshman course registration for Spring 2026 was rescheduled, delayed by a day to Tuesday, November 11. With the Diplomatic Cafe still closed, the Office of Student Engagement arranged for students to have a free cup of coffee or tea from Square One Coffee, Mean Cup, or West Art Café.
At 11:20 a.m. on November 10, College President Andy Rich notified the F&M campus that full power had been restored across campus. Dining, library, and athletic facilities were reopened that afternoon. Classes and programming remained cancelled on the 10, but returned to their normal schedule from Tuesday, November 11.
While outages are rare, F&M Chief of Police Jonathan Rosnick stressed to the College Reporter that F&M community members should register for the Department of Public Safety’s emergency notification services. He emphasized the importance of downloading the Department’s campus safety app, F&M Safe, explaining, “We’re able to send out the most timely information through that app.” Details on the app are available on F&M’s website.
Chief Rosnick also thanked the staff who worked around the clock to restore power to campus, stating that “everybody really came together, as it affects every corner of the campus.” In particular, he highlighted the work of F&M’s facilities team, who “did an incredible job at working with our outside vendors and public utilities,” and praised the Student Affairs team for ensuring students were cared for, including moving students out of and back into Roschel.
Freshman Milind Gavankar is a Staff Writer. Their email is mgavanka@fandm.edu.