President's response to fires
October 24, 2007
As you well know, there have been a number of fires in and around Santa Clarita, some within a very few miles of campus. I am happy to say that, barring some surprising turn of events, CalArts has been spared.
We were forced to suspend classes on Monday and Tuesday, because of the poor quality of the air in our area; and a number of our students, who rent quarters in the canyons near campus, were forced to evacuate their residences. Temporary cots were set up in Mom's Cafe in Chouinard Dormitory, and the food service has offered meals there each day. Many other students chose to leave campus until this terrifying episode was over, staying with friends in safer areas of the Los Angeles basin or going home for a few days.
For those who remained, we have kept and are keeping a steady watch on developing conditions, with vans prepared to evacuate students should that have become necessary. At no point has the campus been in direct jeopardy.
I am happy to say that today we were able to reopen classes, as did College of the Canyons a few blocks away, and we are back in full operation. We will keep you apprised if there are new developments affecting the life of our campus.