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Photo by: Ole Braatelien, Glendale, Ariz. (September 20, 2021/The Voice).

GLENDALE, Ariz. – The GCC main campus closed today after the school’s air conditioning system broke down.  A rave alert went out at 10:41 a.m. this morning making the announcement.

“Campus started shutting down around 10:30,” said Aaron Ciolek, a student at GCC. “People finished their class then began to head out. No lighting issues were occurring while I was in class, but it did feel much hotter. I was sweating in my first class at 9 a.m. My teacher briefly mentioned the heat, and I was directed to check my email from district. Sure enough, I got both a message and email saying that classes were canceled due to the AC issues.”

The facilities department diagnosed the problem.

“The medium voltage for the Student Union cut out,” said Ed Kunaschk, Facilities Manager at GCC. “This affected the chill water pumps meaning the whole campus’ air conditioning went out. We are still waiting on a part but it should be here in the next thirty minutes. I am confident it should fix the problem but it’s kind of like rolling dice. When something like that shuts down you never know what else it affected.”

Vice President of Student Affairs, Monica Castaneda, sent out an email at 11:11 a.m. this morning instructing students to return home and contact their instructors for course-related questions, and that the issue should be resolved by the evening.

At 8:15 p.m. she sent out an email letting students know that classes will resume tomorrow, Sept. 21. The incident did not impact GCC North Campus.

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