By Timothy W. Patterson

Delaware State University experienced a two-hour long power outage on January 16^th, due to a citywide blackout. Students and faculty were under the impression that the power outage was only at DSU, but this was not the case. According to Rosetta Brickhouse, the Executive Director of Facilities Operations, “It was a power outage in the City of Dover, which affected the power loop for the University.”

Dover Firefighters and Police were quick to respond to the power outage that affected DSU.   Photo By Timothy W. Patterson

The power outage lasted two hours, from approximately 9:30 AM to 11:30 AM resulting in the cut-off of the campus Wi-Fi connections, and the Internet. Online classes were canceled due to the lack of Internet service.

The blackout, though, is not the reason for the continuing Wi-Fi problems, according to Brickhouse, as it is a problem being dealt with at DSU’s Information Technology Services.

“The Wi-Fi not working has no ties to the power outage,” claims Brickhouse. “We always have our own Wi-Fi. There must be an issue with IT restoring the Wi-Fi.”

Facility Operations and Public Safety helped the university the best they could, as the problem was an external one and not an internal one. “If Dover has an issue, we do too, because we sit in the middle of Dover,” said Brickhouse.

For example, Facility Operations called the fire department to rescue the four students trapped in elevators in the Warren-Franklin Building, the Science Center North, Winder Hall and the library.

Firefighters ready to save students trapped in an elevator in dormitory -Photo by Timothy W. Patterson

Mrs. Brickhouse expressed her content for the safety of DSU’s students. “We were happy that our team worked extremely well with Mr. J.D Bartlett [Associate Vice President for Capital Planning and Environmental Sustainability] and the City of Dover to restore operations of the University efficiently and effectively.”