No, it was not the campus being “green.”
John Brown University found itself off the city’s electricity grid for an hour and a half Friday night with about half of Siloam Springs.
At approximately 10:15 p.m., a large portion of the city lost power. Kirk Smith, campus safety officer, said a transformer blew somewhere, affecting the University’s whole side of town.
During the power outage, some students stayed on campus and took advantage of the opportunity.
Freshman William Martinez said a truck drove from the parking lot between J. Alvin and Walker across the quad to the flagpoles and off campus.
“Some people here were freaking out because the power was gone,” said Jonathan MacLachlan, a freshman missionary kid from Ethiopia. “Yet the the MKs are like ‘its just like home.'”
Others simply left campus and sought out power elsewhere.
“I came back and the lights were off so my friends and I went to Pour Jon’s and had coffee,” said senior Marco Manzanilla, J. Alvin assistant resident director.
The power was back on by 11:45 p.m. but the University’s campus Wi-Fi was not restored until 12:15 a.m. Saturday.
“Some students were complaining because we didn’t have Wi-Fi,” said Manzanilla.
“It was very discouraging,” said freshman William Martinez. “I was trying to finish a 30 Rock marathon when the power went out.”