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A total solar eclipse was visible at ATU in Russellville from 1:50-1:54 p.m. on Monday, April 8 with the public all taking a moment to bask in the wonder of the scene.
ATU shifted to virtual classes and operations beginning Friday, April 5, in preparation for the total solar eclipse. ATU Department of Public Safety Chief Joshua McMillian and officers worked with many student organizations to ensure a safe environment for those who watched the eclipse at Arkansas Tech.
The student organizations who assisted PSAFE were prepared for the event by training hosted by ATU’s academic program in emergency management and homeland security. The entire event was worked tirelessly by student organizations.
A higher amount of parking spots were sold than originally planned. Emergency Management students took on the task of working the command office for the eclipse event at ATU. Student volunteers worked extremely hard, some pulling 12 hour shifts on and 12 hours off.
The hours leading up to the eclipse included a variety of educational booths outside Doc Bryan Student Services Center. There was a live stream of the NASA TV broadcast, an opportunity to ask questions of an astronomer, various eclipse models using household items and a chance to make sun viewers from paper towel rolls and eclipse masks from paper plates. A coloring station, pinhole viewers, a pick-up station for eclipse glasses, telescopes and a disaster response vehicle provided by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers rounded out the pre-eclipse programming.
