Mass Power Outage Impacts Muir and Marshall Colleges

Photo of class in Applied Physics & Mathematics Building in Muir College.

The electricity in parts of Muir College and Marshall College went down at approximately 11:30 a.m. today due to a construction-related incident. Those affected by the power outage reported closed dining halls, malfunctioning residential hall elevators, and cancelled classes before power was turned back on at 1:15 p.m.

According to University Communications Executive Director Laura Margoni, the outage was caused by a construction contractor hitting a high-voltage power line at the North Torrey Pines Living and Learning Neighborhood construction site. The Triton is not aware of any injuries at this time.

Dining halls in the affected area were closed due to the blackout. These included Pines and Roots in Muir College, as well as Goody’s and OceanView Terrace in Marshall College. During the outage, guests in line at Pines were compensated with free food until 1:22 p.m.

Photo of empty Pines dining hall at around 1:30 p.m. Tajairi Neuson / The Triton

One Muir Housing Advisor (HA), Meagan Montalto, was stuck in a Tioga Residence Hall elevator when the power went out.

Instructors with classes affected by the blackout responded in different ways. As reported on Reddit, some professors and teaching assistants (TAs) continued lecture or discussion using backup lighting, flashlights, or students’ cell phones. Students also reported lectures being moved outdoors or cancelled for the day.

The UCSD Systems Status website provided real-time updates throughout the power outage, including a comprehensive list of buildings affected.

This story is ongoing and will be updated as more information is available.

This article was updated on October 18, 2018 at 6:00 p.m. with further information.

Mo Al Elew is the Editor-in-Chief of The Triton. You can follow him on Twitter @SoloMune.