Students flock to bars after midday class cancellation

Students sliding on ice to their 2:30 p.m. classes Tuesday stopped when their phones vibrated.

Some received an official e-mail. Some saw the University’s Twitter post: All classes canceled for the rest of the day.

So some students trekked back home under threatening gray skies.

But many students turned on their heels and made an early pilgrimage to their favorite bar despite warnings of treacherous ice.

Kilroy’s on Kirkwood’s $2 Tuesday was packed early, never mind the looming storm that students were calling “apocalyptic.” Even NASA named it a “monster,” one of the largest storms it had seen since the 1950s.

But to Kilroy’s they clomped. Girls weren’t sporting little dresses and sparkly earrings. They were wearing jackets and ear warmers — the clothes they were planning to wear to class.

Guys flicked small ice pellets off their gloves before they handed the bouncer their IDs.
This winter storm would not be survived with cans of soup. It would be celebrated with Long Island Iced Teas.

At 2:15 p.m., senior Alex Peirce received a joyful text from a friend.

“Classes cancelled beginning at 230!!!!!!!!!”

“Also I don’t think it’s safe to walk home so we should probably all just go to Kilroys . . .”

Peirce was out the door.

Minutes later, she skidded her feet along Smith Avenue, heading to Kilroy’s to meet her friends. Peirce said she wanted breadsticks and a strawberry lemonade Long Island.

The storm, already spewing ice and sleet, was knocking out power lines across the county and state. Thanks to Twitter and text messaging, students stayed connected. One student even tried to start the hashtag #icedinatRoys.

Peirce said she gets sentimental about any defining moments at IU — and this was one of them. The last time IU called off school was January 28, 2009 — Peirce’s sophomore year. She was travelling in Spain and missed the fun. Now she has the memory of a snow day spent at Roy’s.

At 3 p.m., both the downstairs and upstairs were packed, snow and water streaking the floor and soaking the steps.

The top floor looked as crowded as it usually does at 10 p.m., bartender Jerrod Jeffries said.

He tossed a bottle of root beer schnapps in his hands. He said it’s a good thing the bar stocks up on liquor the day before. He’ll make Long Islands all night with the root beer and other flavors. An extra bartender worked with him, filling in early to help with the rush.

“Yeah” by Usher blasted.

“Next thing I knew she was all up on me screaming ... ”

A young woman leaned over the bar, pushing a small pitcher full of a neon blue drink toward Jeffries. It matched her thick scarf.

“Can you put another shot in here?” she yelled. “Because it doesn’t taste like there’s very much alcohol in it.”

It would be like this until 4 a.m., Jeffries said, predicting that the memories will continue tomorrow, even if IU cancels classes.

Just past the doorman lounged senior Broderick Thompson. Legs tucked around a barstool, he ordered a water and $2 chicken wings. At 2:30 p.m., he had finally reached Sycamore Hall when a student passed by and told him class was off.

“I just turned around and walked out then tweeted that I was heading to Roy’s,” he said.

His friend Kimberly Sanders saw his tweet and joined him, but they said they planned to take their wings to go before the storm gathered more power.

Few students were paying attention to the ice falling from the sky, said doorman John Fiorentino as he quickly checked IDs from a line of students bundled in wet coats.
Fiorentino’s first night of work was scheduled to start at 10 p.m., but he went in early after his 2:30 class was canceled.

“I’m sure some people ... the smarter people ... are staying in,” he said. “But it’ll be packed here. It’ll be a good night.”

Fiorentino said he’s an avid Twitter user. Just as his shift started, a friend tweeted at him: “... it’s my man’s 1st night working at kilroys and its about to be a zoo ...”