Campus & Community

Covering the snow

3 min read

Harvard staff keeps campus running

New England poet Emily Dickinson, no stranger to snow, once observed how “It flings a crystal veil.” That’s one way to put it. But when the snow flings itself across the Boston area in force as it’s done in a daisy chain of recent storms, it also can play havoc with daily life. At Harvard, the storms created sparkling winter tableaux. But for Harvard to return to normal, roads and paths had to be shoveled and salted, meals had to be prepared and served, emergency offices had to be properly staffed. Harvard staff members were there to meet the challenges, and sometimes to savor nature’s beauty.

Harvard University on a winter day. Snow covers the John Harvard Statue in Harvard Yard, where it’s piled high. Stephanie Mitchell/Harvard Staff Photographer
Students walk through the cleared paths in Harvard Yard. Stephanie Mitchell/Harvard Staff Photographer
Students parade across Science Center Plaza. Rose Lincoln/Harvard Staff Photographer
Facilities maintenance crews battle conditions after the blizzard. Rose Lincoln/Harvard Staff Photographer
Icicles hang from the windowsills of the Memorial Church. Rose Lincoln/Harvard Staff Photographer
Crews coat the paths around the Yard with salt. Rose Lincoln/Harvard Staff Photographer
Harvard University staffer John Carroll heads to lunch after clearing snow near Holden Chapel to make room for the next blizzard, expected over the weekend. Rose Lincoln/Harvard Staff Photographer
A bicyclist passes by Harvard Business School. Rose Lincoln/Harvard Staff Photographer
Students walk by Leverett House. Kris Snibbe/Harvard Staff Photographer
Snow and icicles cover Wadsworth Hall in Harvard Yard. Stephanie Mitchell/Harvard Staff Photographer
Students scale large snow piles along Massachusetts Avenue. Rose Lincoln/Harvard Staff Photographer
Students walk to class in the snow of Harvard Yard. Stephanie Mitchell/Harvard Staff Photographer
Harvard bus driver Raymond Quitumba Jr. jokes with Yan Bai ’15 that she should wave her arms instead of chasing the bus. Rose Lincoln/Harvard Staff Photographer
Cabot and Pforzheimer Houses on Radcliffe Quadrangle the day after the blizzard. Rose Lincoln/Harvard Staff Photographer
Harvard University student Gigi Estevez warms her hands by one of three new fire pits in Science Center Plaza. Rose Lincoln/Harvard Staff Photographer
A bicyclist walks her bike alongside Harvard Yard. Rose Lincoln/Harvard Staff Photographer
Loeb House, the tower of Memorial Church, and Houghton Library are reflected in the window of Lamont Library. Stephanie Mitchell/Harvard Staff Photographer
An overview of Harvard Yard after a snowfall. Stephanie Mitchell/Harvard Staff Photographer