This article has been updated.
The entire Cornell campus and parts of Collegetown experienced a power outage on Saturday. As of 4 p.m., the University stated through the Campus Alert website that all power had been restored.
Parts of campus began experiencing the outage at 2:15 p.m., according to Cornell’s Information Technology department website. The University released a campus alert at 3:36 p.m. stating that the Ithaca campus was experiencing an electrical power interruption that was affecting multiple campus facilities.
The outage in Collegetown lasted a few seconds, while other campus areas, including parts of Central and West Campus, had power restored within a half hour. Power was restored to parts of North Campus by 3:10 p.m., while some students on West Campus reported the restoration of power by 3:40 p.m.
Many students in University housing received messages and emails from their Residence Hall Directors urging students to avoid elevators and limit power usage in buildings powered by back-up generators.
Many Collegetown residents, however, have yet to hear from their landlords regarding the outage. Alexander Adrogue ’24 was in the elevator of his Collegetown apartment building when the power outage occurred.
“I was in the elevator in the Student Agencies Building going down from the fourth floor when the power surge happened,” Adrogue wrote in a statement to The Sun. “The elevator went pitch black, I felt like I was falling, and then I felt a sharp impact in my knees when the elevator stopped.”
Adrogue remained stuck in the elevator after it fell and called the fire department for help.
“After getting out [of the elevator], I talked to Fire/EMS and they said the elevator might have fallen somewhere between one and three stories,” Adrogue wrote.
A resident of the same apartment building reported that the power on the building’s central processing units was still out at 2:46 p.m., even after power for the rest of the building had been restored.
New York State Electric and Gas, the utility company that services much of the Ithaca area, could not be reached for comment. The company’s website has not been updated to reflect the outages as of 4:15 p.m.