Blake Mycoskie, founder of TOMS shoes, decided to cancel his trip to DePauw University after weather reports showed a winter storm heading for the Greencastle area Sunday afternoon to Monday morning.
"I want to express my deepest regrets for not being able to make it to your historic campus this weekend," Mycoskie stated in a news release on the University's website.
Mycoskie would have flown to the Midwest from the West Coast Sunday afternoon for the Sunday evening lecture.
"This is disappointing, to be sure," stated Ken Owen, DePauw's director of media relations in a University news release. "But it is understandable given a forecast that is calling for as much as 10 inches of snow and sleet."
Many students and faculty were excited for his lecture, and are saddened at his cancelling.
"Obviously it was disappointing because it was exciting to have [Mycoskie] come," said President of DePauw University Brian Casey. "The problem is his schedule is so tight that if he were to get caught in any one place, he misses a whole bunch of other engagements."
"I'm really disappointed that [Mycoskie] couldn't come but I understand that the weather was really bad and he had other commitments that he needed to attend to," said first-year Jennifer Norehad. "I hope he comes back--the sooner the better."
According to Casey, Mycoskie called the University late Friday afternoon saying he was unable to fly into Greencastle due to the weather and unfortunately couldn't come.
This cancelation is the first time an Ubben Lecture has been canceled since 2004. Former Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres had been scheduled to speak on March 31, 2004, but had to cancel when his responsibilities as the leader of Israel's Labor Party forced him to remain in Israel.
Due to the company's prevalence in student's lives at DePauw, some students were particularly excited about Mycoskie's visit.
"I was really looking forward to this lecture because it's more of a modern one and TOMs has always interested me, the whole foundation of the company," said Norehad.
Mycoskie is in the midst of a speaking series where he is speaking at various venues and universities such as Southeast Missouri State University and The Society for Human Resource Management. Owen is trying to reschedule for Mycoskie to come to DePauw at the end of his series this spring.
"I've been excited about visiting you for quite some time," Mycoskie stated. "I look forward to rescheduling my visit for a warmer month."
-Emily McCarter contributed to this article.