A power outage eclipsed main campus Monday from 8 p.m. to 2:40 a.m. The next morning Vice President for Administration Phil Philips wrote in an email the shutdown was due to “a critical piece of equipment” that was at risk of overheating.
“A semi-permanent piece of equipment was used to get the campus back to service,” Phillips wrote. “Once permanent replacement equipment has been received, Southern California Edison will plan a more convenient time to interrupt power and swap this piece of equipment with the new piece.”
Associate Dean of Students Brian Dawson wrote in an email that the housing staff reacted quickly and well on such short notice.
“Our [Resident Directors] go through extensive training each summer on how to respond to emergencies around campus,” Dawson wrote.
“When we were alerted, we immediately put the team together, reviewed the situation and put the team to work. We doubled the staff on duty for the night, got emergency flashlights out to all the effective areas and had the RDs put out an email to their residents saying that an official email would come soon, but in the meantime to go eat early, charge up your cell phone and to make plans for the night.”
Phillips wrote they worked in close conjunction with Southern California Edison to “mitigate any danger from the potential failure.”
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Follow Nate Barton on Twitter: @TheNateBarton
As published in the Oct. 3, 2013 issue of the Pepperdine Graphic.
