Sleet and Snow Delays Some Mississippi College Students at Orientation

Mississippi College campus in Clinton is pictured early Friday afternoon.

Sleet, snow and icy roads around the South prevented more than a dozen Mississippi College students from attending orientation sessions on Friday.

Students who missed coming to the Clinton campus due to winter storms on January 6 will get another opportunity early next week. Students can sign up for classes and meet with faculty advisors on Monday January 9, MC officials say.

About 97 Mississippi College students attended orientation on Friday. But there were 14 others who couldn’t make it due to weather issues, said Michael Wright, assistant admissions director.

Spring semester classes at the 5,130-student university will begin Monday.

Travel for drivers along iced over Mississippi bridges and roads was more difficult for students like Shawn Robertson and his brother, Joshua Robertson. But the Jackson residents still made it to school to meet with faculty advisors and sign up for classes.

“I had to drive slower,” Joshua Robertson said as sleet pelted Nelson Hall.

The Robertsons knew of at least one friend, MC track team member, Daniel Barrett of the Gulfport, who decided to stay home Friday rather than risk traveling to the Clinton campus to return after the Christmas holidays.

January 17 remains the final date for MC students to add classes.

Portions of the Quad on the Clinton campus were covered with sheets of white ice as temperatures dropped below freezing late Friday afternoon.

Temperatures in the region hovered slightly above or below the freezing mark in such cities as Dallas, Little Rock, Memphis, and Shreveport on Friday. In metro Jackson temperatures were to reach a high of 38 degrees on Saturday with lows in the 20s, forecasters say.

For more information, contact the Mississippi College admissions office at 601-925-3800. MC offices will reopen 8 a.m. Monday morning.