By: John Limbaugh Vallo Vision News

MONTEVALLO – Last Tuesday at 8:40 a.m., residents of Napier Hall were woken by the sound of their RA knocking on their doors to inform them that the power would be shutting off in an hour.

112 students, some of which had already left for classes, were forced to pack up their rooms and find housing accommodations until further notice.

The night before, power to Napier was cut between 10 and 11:00 p.m. as the Montevallo physical plant tried to resolve an electrical lighting issue. The previous Friday, Residents were moved out of Napier for the night due to the same issue.

Some of Napier’s residents have expressed frustration with how the physical plant handled the situation. Among them is Josiah Carter, who had to drive back home to Florida for three days.

“There was no warning. I was just woken up and told I had to find somewhere else to stay,” Carter said, “This is the third time it’s happened this week. You would think they’d be able to give us a little more time before just shutting the building down.”

Cater returned to campus Friday evening after missing three days of classes. Though he was excused from his classes, Carter says he is, “still having to play catch up on several assignments.”

While this was a new experience for Carter, Ethan Ivy, another Napier resident and former RA, said this isn’t the first time something like this has happened.

“I’ve had trouble with them in the past. Getting them to respond to my work orders was like pulling teeth.” Ivy said.

In an email sent by the president, the cause of the outage was attributed to a failing 50-year-old distribution cable. The physical plant is scheduled to begin a series of updates to the power grid this summer.

However, this has left Carter wondering if “something like this could happen again between now and then.”

The Physical plant has shared no further information, but the president, Dr. John W. Stewart III has assured students that:

“University administrators, faculty and staff will continue to work with students individually to make sure their needs are met. This includes allowing students affected by the outage to make up any assignments missed during this time.”

Furthermore, the University has reopened the hall and compensated students for two weeks of living costs.

Napier’s staff have also hung fliers with the Physical Plant’s contact information, encouraging students to directly submit work orders from now on.

To submit a work order, students can visit the plant’s page on the Montevallo website or contact them at (205)-665-6130.

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