To read more about USF's 60th Homecoming Week and
comedian Trevor Wallace's upcoming performance at the Round Up Comedy Show, click here

Power outage affects central campus buildings

Dining options in the Marshall Student Center closed due to the power outage. ORACLE PHOTO/ALEXANDRA URBAN

About 20 buildings in the central area of the Tampa campus lost power Wednesday shortly before noon. The affected buildings regained power shortly after 1:30 p.m.

The Marshall Student Center (MSC), Bookstore, Student Services, Argos and residential halls such as Castor were affected by the issue. Facilities Management has already restored power to some affected buildings, according to Associate Director of Communications Aaron Nichols.

Students looking to get lunch were redirected to The Hub as it was the only place with power. Dining options in the MSC were closed until the power returned.

Nichols said there was a brief voltage sag, or a drop in voltage, in the power coming into campus from Tampa Electric Company. This caused a switch in the high voltage system to fault.

Before resetting the switch gear, Nichols said facilities had to test the power lines and equipment to ensure the power returns safely without damaging any systems. Power was restored in three phases, which was why not all affected buildings regained power at the same time.

This story was updated.