One March morning saw students building snowmen, throwing snowballs and sledding down hills. The next day, they were slipping on ice, tripping through slush and trudging to class.

On the Tuesday after six inches of snow left Athens looking more like the North Pole than a Southern college campus, frustrated University students still had to go to class.

Some students were injured as they trekked through the treacherous conditions.

“We had quite a few reports seeing people slip on sidewalks, getting off the bus,” Ron Hamlin, manager of Campus Transit, told The Red & Black in March.

“A girl in one class of mine had her hand bleeding from a fall,” Zaid Jilani, a senior from Kennesaw, wrote in a letter to the editor.

Students came into the University Health Center with injured chins, elbows and tailbones, said Liz Rachun, coordinator for the Center.

Some classes had to be relocated after the roof of the Miller Learning Center collapsed under the weight of the snow and ice.

Other classes were cancelled because professors simply couldn’t make it to campus.

But University President Michael Adams stood by his decision to open the University.

“I think most 19-year-olds are capable of maneuvering through a little ice and snow,” Adams told The Red & Black. “And I can tell you that thousands of them did yesterday when the University was closed because I saw them out.”

Students certainly took advantage of the rare winter wonderland they found when classes were cancelled Monday after the storm.

For some, the day marked a return to childlike amusement.

“I enjoyed treating the snow like a Slip-N-Slide on the East Campus quad,” said Cory McCollum, a junior from Myrtle Beach, S.C.

Snowmen sprung up across campus and at student apartment complexes.

The Diamond Dogs took a break from shoveling snow at Foley Field to pummel each other with snowballs.

Cookie sheets doubled as makeshift sleds.

Others reflected on the rarity of the event.

“It’s about time we got snow,” said Ben Wineski, a sophomore from Decatur.

But Monday wasn’t all fun and games for the University community-about 20,000 Georgia Power customers were left without electricity.

“If I didn’t [have a friend to stay with], and I had a midterm Tuesday, I do not know what I would’ve done other than sit in a 30-degree apartment all night studying by candlelight,” Matt Berry, a senior from Marietta wrote in a Letter to the Editor.

“I felt helpless,” said Trey Kenyon, a senior from Woodstock. “With the power outage we couldn’t go anywhere. We had cars blocking the entrance and everywhere was closed.”