University officials announced Friday that Monday’s classes are cancelled but that the 6:30 p.m. football game against the University of Tennessee will still be held.
The Thursday of fall break, Oct. 6, will now be a class makeup day.
Chancellor Sean O’Keefe said classes were canceled because there will not be enough time to clean up campus after Hurricane Rita hits
Rita is expected to bring heavy wind and rain when it makes landfall early Saturday morning.
O’Keefe also said the class cancellation will also help the University make preparations to accommodate Rita evacuees with special needs in shelters and makeshift hospitals on campus.
“Given the vagary with the cleanup and medical evacuees, we elected to not have operations go on,” O’Keefe said.
The shelter in the Carl Maddox Fieldhouse has not closed since Hurricane Katrina hit Gulf Coast.
O’Keefe the Pete Maravich Assembly Center could be used as a hospital again for Rita evacuees like it was following Katrina.
Facility Services will need at least two days to clean up campus, O’Keefe said.
Michael Ruffner, University spokesman, said Friday afternoon that Monday classes will be held on that Thursday.