{
  "id": "2025-03-05-lac-courte-oreilles-ojibwe-university-winter-storm-closure",
  "slug": "lac-courte-oreilles-ojibwe-university-winter-storm-closure-2025-03-05",
  "institution": {
    "name": "Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwe University",
    "shortName": "LCOOU",
    "state": "WI",
    "type": "tribal-college",
    "alertSystemName": "LCOOU Campus Closure Notifications"
  },
  "incident": {
    "date": "2025-03-05",
    "type": "winter-storm",
    "cleryCategory": "advisory",
    "headline": "Winter storm closes campus for a day; classes delivered virtually",
    "headlinePublic": "Winter storm closes campus for a day; classes delivered virtually",
    "summary": "On Wednesday, March 5, 2025, [Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwe University (LCOOU) in Hayward, Wisconsin closed its campus and delivered classes virtually](https://www.lco.edu/news/lcoou-campus-closed-march-5th-due-to-inclement-weather) ahead of the [March 4-5, 2025 winter storm](https://www.weather.gov/grb/030525_winterstorm) that brought heavy snow, near-zero visibility, and dangerous wind chills to Sawyer County and the Lac Courte Oreilles Reservation. LCOOU (chartered by the [Lac Courte Oreilles Band of Lake Superior Chippewa](https://lco-nsn.gov/) and designated a [1994 land-grant institution](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Land-grant_university#1994_land-grant_institutions)) is one of the smaller tribal universities in the Upper Midwest; it delivered classes virtually rather than canceling instruction outright.",
    "outcome": "Campus closed for the day on Wednesday, March 5, 2025. Classes delivered virtually. No injuries or property damage to LCOOU facilities were reported. Operations resumed Thursday, March 6, 2025.",
    "resolution": "confirmed-threat",
    "casualties": {
      "killed": 0,
      "injured": 0
    }
  },
  "alerts": [
    {
      "sequence": 1,
      "type": "initial",
      "timestampApprox": "Evening of Tuesday, March 4, 2025, CST, or early morning of Wednesday, March 5, 2025, CST, issued ahead of the storm's heaviest snowfall in Sawyer County",
      "channel": "website",
      "verbatimText": "Due to the impending snow storm Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwe University (LCOOU) campus will be closed and deliver classes virtually Wednesday March 5th 2025.",
      "isVerbatimConfirmed": true,
      "sourceUrl": "https://www.lco.edu/news/lcoou-campus-closed-march-5th-due-to-inclement-weather",
      "sourceDescription": "LCOOU official news page closure notice posted to lco.edu",
      "annotations": [
        "Posted to the LCOOU news page rather than distributed by mass-notification SMS; the university also communicates through its website and Facebook page",
        "The 'deliver classes virtually' framing pairs a physical closure (for the safety of students and staff commuting on Sawyer County rural roads) with continued remote instruction",
        "The Lac Courte Oreilles Reservation is in Wisconsin's snow-belt zone east of Lake Superior, where lake-effect-augmented winter storms can produce one-foot snowfall totals in 12-24 hours"
      ],
      "characterCount": 155
    }
  ],
  "context": "[Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwe University](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lac_Courte_Oreilles_Ojibwe_Community_College) (LCOOU), formerly known as Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwa Community College (LCOOCC) until its 2018 university status upgrade, is a tribal university chartered by the [Lac Courte Oreilles Band of Lake Superior Chippewa](https://lco-nsn.gov/) in Hayward, Wisconsin. It is one of two tribal colleges in Wisconsin and is a [1994 land-grant institution](https://www.nifa.usda.gov/lac-courte-oreilles-ojibwa-community-college). On Wednesday, March 5, 2025, the university closed its physical campus and delivered classes virtually due to the [March 4-5, 2025 winter storm](https://www.weather.gov/grb/030525_winterstorm) that brought heavy snow and dangerous wind chills to northern Wisconsin. The decision was announced through a [campus closure notice posted to the LCOOU news page](https://www.lco.edu/news/lcoou-campus-closed-march-5th-due-to-inclement-weather). The case is meaningful for the campus alert archive because it documents the practical operational pattern of a small tribal university in a snow-belt region, closure of physical operations paired with continuation of remote instruction, communicated through a website news post rather than an enterprise SMS alert system. Tribal-college alert communications are under-represented in publicly accessible archives; LCOOU serves a substantial regional Anishinaabe student population.",
  "keyFindings": [
    "LCOOU closed its physical campus and pivoted to virtual instruction for the March 4-5, 2025 winter storm",
    "Closure was communicated via a website news post (lco.edu/news) rather than an enterprise SMS alert system",
    "The March 4-5, 2025 storm was a regional blizzard in the Lake Superior snow belt that produced heavy snow and dangerous wind chills across northern Wisconsin per [NWS Green Bay records](https://www.weather.gov/grb/030525_winterstorm)",
    "LCOOU is a 1994 land-grant tribal institution chartered by the Lac Courte Oreilles Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, one of two tribal universities in Wisconsin and one of approximately 35 federally recognized tribal colleges/universities nationwide",
    "Documents a tribal-college campus closure, a category under-represented in publicly searchable alert archives"
  ],
  "sources": [
    {
      "title": "LCOOU Campus Closed March 5th Due to inclement weather",
      "url": "https://www.lco.edu/news/lcoou-campus-closed-march-5th-due-to-inclement-weather",
      "type": "official-archive"
    },
    {
      "title": "March 4-5, 2025 Preliminary Winter Storm Summary - NWS Green Bay",
      "url": "https://www.weather.gov/grb/030525_winterstorm",
      "type": "other"
    },
    {
      "title": "Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwe University",
      "url": "https://www.lco.edu/",
      "type": "official-archive"
    },
    {
      "title": "Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwa Community College - Wikipedia",
      "url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lac_Courte_Oreilles_Ojibwa_Community_College",
      "type": "other"
    },
    {
      "title": "Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwa Community College - NIFA 1994 Land-Grant",
      "url": "https://www.nifa.usda.gov/lac-courte-oreilles-ojibwa-community-college",
      "type": "official-archive"
    }
  ],
  "confidence": "high",
  "tags": [
    "winter-storm",
    "tribal-college",
    "weather-closure",
    "wisconsin",
    "1994-land-grant",
    "anishinaabe",
    "ojibwe",
    "hayward",
    "virtual-classes",
    "sawyer-county",
    "lake-superior-snow-belt"
  ],
  "dateAdded": "2026-05-14",
  "lastUpdated": "2026-07-16",
  "addedBy": "ingestion"
}