According to AccuWeather, Murray will continue to see temperature highs in the 70s to 80s and high to very high max UV indexes in the coming weeks, but the thermostats are telling a different story. With the sun beating down outside and icy-to-the-touch chairs inside, everyone on campus is doing their best to prepare for each day at Murray State.

Cameren White, a freshman graphic communications major, makes a 15-minute walk from her dorm room in Hester Residential College to Wilson Hall. She said she dresses light to avoid getting overheated, but feels freezing in her classrooms.

“I’m not great with temperature regulation in general, so the temperature difference makes me feel kind of insane,” White said. “It’s been a little better day to day, but I’m still figuring it out.”

Julie Cyzewski, a professor of English in Faculty Hall, said she hasn’t been able to prepare well for the jarring difference between how warm it is outside and how much colder her office has been compared to previous years. 

“This is the first year I have needed to borrow a space heater in my office in order to stay for office hours,” Cyzewski said.

Abigail Cox, director of the Oakley Resource Center and Oakley Student Lounge, said this is an issue the buildings face every year as the seasons change faster than the heating/cooling systems. She said the Student Lounge has been especially cool— between 61 and 65 degrees throughout the day— because the Oakley Applied Science building is currently under construction and is being kept cold for the workers.

“I think it’s different for faculty and staff who stay in the building all day versus students who are going in and out,” Cox said. “When students first come in and they’re hot, it doesn’t feel that bad, but if they’re sitting here for very long, it gets chilly.”

Cox said the temperature regulation on campus varies from building to building, especially between newer and older systems. Both academic and residential buildings will switch from cooling to heating systems later in the semester, but until then, students, faculty and staff will have to prepare accordingly.

Cyzewski said wool socks have helped her stay a little warmer in Faculty Hall without getting too hot outside. White said her best option so far has been wearing a T-shirt and long pants for walking outside and keeping a thicker jacket or over-shirt in her backpack.

Cox said the Student Lounge keeps blankets, hot beverages and refrigerated water for the students and faculty who visit throughout the day.