ALERT: Utility/Power Failure on Campus – UPDATE

June 11, 2025 - 11:28 AM

UPDATE: Utility/Power Failure on Campus

Meadville Water Authority is just completing the the main water line repair on the north side of campus and and the water line should be pressurized shortly.

CAUTION FROM THE WATER AUTHORITY: A loss of positive water pressure is a signal of the existence of conditions that could allow contamination to enter the distribution system through back-flow by back‑pressure or back‑siphonage. As a result, there is an increased chance that the water may contain disease-causing organisms.

DO NOT DRINK THE WATER WITHOUT BOILING IT FIRST. Bring all water to a rolling boil, let it boil for one minute, and let it cool before using; or use bottled water. You should use boiled or bottled water for drinking, making ice, washing dishes, brushing teeth, and food preparation until further notice. Inadequately treated water may contain disease-causing organisms. These organisms include bacteria, viruses, and parasites, which can cause symptoms such as nausea, cramps, diarrhea, and associated headaches. These symptoms, however, are not caused only by organisms in drinking water, but also by other factors. If you experience any of these symptoms and they persist, you may want to seek medical advice. Guardians of infants and young children and people at increased risk, such as pregnant women, some of the elderly, and people with severely compromised immune systems, should seek advice from their health care advisors about drinking this water. General guidelines on ways to lessen the risk of infection by microbes are available from EPA’s Safe Drinking Water Hotline at 1 (800) 426‑4791.

The Water Authority will inform local residents when the water is safe to drink. An updated message Emergency Message will be sent from Public Safety.

Students, faculty and staff should monitor e-mail, the college web site, social and local media for updated information and further updates.
Contact Campus Safety in the event of an emergency: 814-332-3357.

More information on Emergency website

Wilfredo Hernández

Title:  Professor of Spanish
Department: World Languages & Cultures
Degrees: B.A., Universidad Central de Venezuela; M.A.,Ph.D., University of Connecticut
Research Interests: Contemporary Latin American production; Venezuelan literature; Gender and Transgender
Studies; Hispanic cinema; and the culture of illicit drugs in the Americas.

Contact Info

Email: whernand@allegheny.edu
Phone: (814) 332-2319
Office Location: Ruter 200, Box 30

Office Hours – Fall 2023

Day Time
Monday 10:00am – 11:00am
Tuesday 10:30am – 12:00pm
Wednesday 10:00am – 11:00am
Thursday 10:30am – 12:00pm
Friday 10:00am – 11:00am

I am a Professor of Spanish at Allegheny College, where I work on recent Latin
American cultural production with a particular emphasis on the GLBTQ literature and cinema
from Venezuela. My articles and book reviews have appeared, among other journals, at Revista
de Estudios Hispánicos, Revista Iberoamericana, Cincinnati Romance Review, Argos
(Universidad Simón Bolívar in Caracas, Venezuela). Other academic publications include
chapters in El tránsito vacilante (2013), edited by Patricia Valladares and Leonora Simonovis;
Tortilleras: Hispanic and U.S. Lesbian Expression (2003), edited by Lourdes Torres and
Inmaculada Pertusa; and Sexualidad y nación (2000), edited by Daniel Balderston. I co-authored
an introduction to the first American translation of Eugenio Montejo’s poetry (University of
Oklahoma Press, 2010). Currently, I am working on a book-project tentatively titled The
Transgender Subject in Revolutionary Venezuela (1999-Present), where I analyze a series of
novels and plays published after Hugo Chávez took power and where trans characters appear and
most of the time are protagonists. Before coming to Allegheny, I taught at Trinity College
(1998-2000) and the University of Connecticut (1994-1998). I received my PhD in Spanish in
2002 from the University of Connecticut. I went to college at the Central University of
Venezuela, in Caracas, where I majored in both Modern Languages and Education. I was born
in Venezuela in 1963 and moved to the United States in 1993. I live in Meadville, Pennsylvania,
since 2000.