01PSU AlertU-P: University Park activities, including classes, canceled Feb. 1 due to inclement weather. More Info: http://news.psu.edu/

Without the coronavirus pandemic, that’s the message folks all across Happy Valley would likely wake up to on Monday morning. Below-freezing temperatures, relentless snowfall across multiple days, and an official snow emergency is usually the perfect recipe for a Penn State snow day (since the ice-pocalypse, at least).

But classes are already online, and there’s no reason for Old Main to call off classes. Everyone is already used to hopping on Zoom for live lectures or watching pre-recorded lessons in their spare time. Actually getting out of bed to brave the elements seems like a strange, distant memory.

However, it doesn’t need to be this way. Despite the obvious choice to keep classes online, Penn State should call a snow day Monday to preserve just a little bit of normalcy during a bleak, unorthodox semester.

There’s a precedent for this, too. Schools around the country, most notably in Mahwah, New Jersey, have made headlines for preserving snow days despite virtual environments.

“We will maintain the hope of children by calling actual snow days due to inclement weather,” said Mahwah Public Schools Superintendent Leonard Fitts. “These are times for memory-making, and we believe these types of opportunities should remain intact.”

Penn State: Take. Notes! Yes, most of these school districts are preserving the holy sanctity of snow days for actual children, but it should apply to adults in college, too. The magic of waking up and excitedly checking to see if school is canceled doesn’t go away with age. Besides, you know us college students act like little kids sometimes.

I understand that just one day off can really throw professors off the mark, but we already have “wellness days” built into the semester, right? Why not swap these out with snow days and let everyone go sledding, bake cookies, and enjoy a good ol’ fashion day off? I’m sure professors would enjoy some extra family time on a workday, too.

I know a lot of older folks are going to say something along the lines of, “Back in my day, we went to class when there were two feet of snow inside of Forum.” That’s not really how things work anymore. During the 2018-19 school year, Penn State canceled classes seven times in three months. For current students, this is the new normal.

This is a big decision Penn State needs to make. If it still holds classes, that sets a post-pandemic precedent as well. Will Penn State kill snow days forever on Monday? It’s a slippery slope.

Students have already lost this year to the pandemic. Football, in-person classes, internships, and being able to see your friends without risking contracting a novel disease, to name a few. Don’t add snow days to that list, Penn State. Let us “kids” be kids!