PHILADELPHIA — The University canceled this weekend’s Cornell Alumni Leadership Conference scheduled to be held in Philadelphia after the Governor of Pennsylvania issued a state of emergency ahead of an expected winter storm.
Over 500 Cornellians were registered to attend Friday and Saturday’s conference at the Philadelphia Marriott Downtown. All sessions and events, as well as Friday’s reception with President Elizabeth Garrett, are cancelled in anticipation of the storm.
The National Weather Service issued a blizzard watch Thursday for Friday evening through Sunday morning estimating that between 12 and 18 inches were possible in Philadelphia, and later on Thursday Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf (D) declared a state of emergency.
“As you know, snow rarely stops a group of Cornellians but we are focused on everyone’s safety,” Jim Mazza ’88, associate vice president for Alumni Affairs, said in an email announcing the cancellation.
The University will begin refunding registration fees for those who paid to attend CALC next week. Rooms reserved in the CALC block at the Marriott Downtown will automatically be canceled Friday morning at no charge, according to Mazza.
An informal reception will be held at 6 p.m. Thursday on the 5th floor of the Marriott Downtown for all CALC attendees already in Philadelphia.