The University tries its best to salt all roads and sidewalks during the winter for the safety of the students, faculty and locals that like to take leisurely walks on our lovely campus. For one Lewisburg local, however, the school’s efforts weren’t good enough. 

Last Friday morning, word started to spread on campus that local woman Jacqueline Frosty filed a lawsuit against the University after claiming that she slipped on a sidewalk covered by ice on school grounds, resulting in a sprained wrist and a minor concussion. The University’s administration and board have yet to make any comment on the situation, but enough students have been talking about it that we chose to investigate further into the matters. And as we have dug deeper into this icy incident, Ms. Frosty’s claims may not be completely correct.

The injuries Ms. Frosty got from the icy incident are certainly real, the woman even provided our team with a copy of the records and bills from the incident. However, the facts about the circumstances of the fall are proving to be a little slippery.

Ms. Frosty claimed that she slipped on a sidewalk that was on University property, however, a video a student managed to capture of the fall shows something else. After watching the video several times, all completely for research purposes, we saw that the iced up sidewalk Ms. Frosty slipped on belonged to a private residence not related to campus, and the ground she broke her arm on was completely free of ice on the University side of the property line. Checking property lines online confirmed this, and has raised questions about if the location of the sneaky slippery sidewalk matters or not.

However, no matter the facts about the case, University students have taken to Yik Yak to openly discuss the lawsuit. Many students have stated they support Ms. Frosty, most citing their reason being that the University probably has the money to pay for any outcome of the lawsuit. When asking some students to elaborate their position, each made similar comments that can be summarized by one student’s response. Senior Catherine Carcar told a representative, “It’s a running joke between students that if you get hit by a car on campus, college is paid for. Getting severely injured on campus and being able to prove it wasn’t your fault is a perfect recipe for some sort of settlement or at the very least some hush money. No one would actively encourage anyone else to get injured, not really, but when we pay the school enough and not all of it’s going where it should, we’d all love to see them lose it over something like this.”

Carcar’s sentiment is agreed upon by many students here at the University, which is certainly why Ms. Frosty has gained the support of students so quickly. As we wait for updates on the lawsuit situation, we highly encourage students and locals to stay safe when walking around in this winter not-so-wonderland.