Record high temperatures met students as they returned to campus for the first week of school. The hot weather impacted many community members, suspending several campus operations and activities, including the first All-School Meeting (ASM) of the new school year.
Dr. Susan Esty, Dean of Students and Residential Life, spoke to the postponement of ASM, which will take place instead on September 15. Esty noted that student safety is prioritized and discussed the effort required to work through the recent challenges.
“We had to postpone the opening ASM, which I know was really disappointing for everybody… We couldn’t gather in the [Cochran] Chapel because there’s no air conditioning in there… We didn’t really have a choice because of the risk. The risk was really high that someone could be dehydrated or have suffer from heat stroke,” said Esty.
Besides postponing ASM, athletic commitments, after-school activities, other extracurriculars, and classes have been affected by the recent temperatures. Kelley MacKinnon ’27 described these changes to her schedule.
“I was supposed to start soccer on Thursday, [September 7,] but my sports have been pushed back, so tryouts don’t start until Monday, [September 11]. Some of my classes have gotten out earlier because it’s just so hot,” said MacKinnon.
Throughout the opening of school, many students tried to spend more time indoors, especially in buildings with air conditioning. Additionally, MacKinnon listed what else she had to do to avoid the heat in the past week.
“I’ve also been carrying a lot of water, sunglasses, and a hat. At night, my roommate and I both have fans, so I try to keep it as close to my bed as possible and have it running for a while before I get into bed so the air is already cool around my bed. I also don’t use too many blankets, so I don’t get overheated,” said MacKinnon.
Esty echoed what many students have done to battle the heat, noting similar pieces of advice for maintaining a routine and staying cool.
“We should open the windows at night because the temperature always drops at night. Use fans to let the cool air in. Close the windows in the morning when we go to class, and close shades to try to keep the cool air in our rooms. When we come back at night…rinse and repeat,” Esty said.
Some students expressed feedback as to how the school could make the heat in dorms more bearable for upcoming years. As some students are left without a functioning fan, Sophia Tabibian ’26 commented on what she thought Andover could do to better handle extreme heat conditions.
“I think the school should provide students with a fan, because obviously their mission should be to keep students safe and healthy. We can’t thrive and do our best unless we have the tools necessary to do that. Fans would be deeply appreciated,” Tabibian said.
However, Esty, while also keeping climate impacts and emissions in mind, believes that this solution would be a large commitment. Despite such obstacles, she hopes that there is a sustainable way to keep the whole campus cool in the future.
“The school is aware that climate change will impact us, is already impacting us, and it’s a huge undertaking to cool our whole campus. I’m sure people are working on ways to sustainably address the increase in heat waves, while also limiting our impact on climate change,” said Esty.
