USU's Student Involvement and Leadership office pivots to provide student events during pandemic

The Coronavirus pandemic has left a lasting impact across the higher education landscape this past year, and the ability for campuses to provide safe and engaging events for students has been a particular struggle. However, in spite of those challenges, USU's Student Involvement & Leadership Center has continued to churn out events at a rate of 4.5 per week during the Fall 2020 semester.

“One of the first things we did in August was we sent out an Instagram poll and asked our followers what types of events they'd be interested in attending,” said Spencer Bitner, the Associate Director of the Student Involvement & Leadership Center and adviser over the USU Student Association's (USUSA) Student Events Office.

“The overwhelming majority of students wanted something where they did feel safe and they could feel physically distant. When we were looking at that, that's where we based our plans off of that. We've reached out to find out what students want and we're trying to base it around what, realistically, they'll participate in.”

Drive-in movies have been a hit, with more than 1,000 students attending showings during USU's Weeks of Welcome in September and Freaky Fridays in October, which helped fill the void of the Howl — USU's annual Halloween party. Other events have included High Stakes Bingo in the Spectrum, a comedian, and a haunted drive-thru at Campus Recreation's ropes course.

And the programming for students hasn't only been provided by Student Events. Groups under the umbrella of Student Involvement & Leadership have worked with USU's Campus Safety Committee and Vice President for Student Affairs, Dr. James Morales, to create and provide safe opportunities for students to get together and enjoy “normal” college activities.

The HURD Committee (USU's committee that creates programming related to Athletics and Campus Recreation events) held a “Re-Watch Party” on the Quad during Weeks of Welcome. At the time, USU's fall sports were postponed, so the HURD showed a re-run of the Aggies victory over 19th-ranked Louisiana Tech in 2012 and students were able to get free food and hang out in a socially distant manner.

USUSA's college senators also held events during their college weeks, with CAAS (College of Agriculture & Applied Sciences) week, Business Week, and Science Week happening so far this semester. The USUSA Traditions Committee was also able to pull off many of its Homecoming-themed events, including Mr. USU and Street Painting.

All told, 64 events have been approved within the Student Involvement & Leadership Center this semester for students on the USU Logan campus.

“It's been a rollercoaster trying to get all these things approved and get all the moving parts in order and put together,” said Alexis Needleman, USUSA's Traditions Director. “Students are just looking for and excited to have any sort of way to get out and to get together while obviously being safe. I think that's been the biggest feedback is just like, ‘Let us have anything. Let us have some sort of opportunity.' Hopefully the students understand, we're trying our best here.”

Needleman went on to say how important it is for college students to have the opportunity to participate in events and to take a little bit of a mental break from their schoolwork, jobs, and other things weighing them down. She said participating in events on campus has shaped her entire college experience and that she is a strong advocate for them.

“We have to be in-line and maintain the messaging of the university. We have to stay in line with what the university is telling the public and students,” Bitner said. “We're not going to beat ourselves up trying to do something that they're not saying that we should be doing. In that same vein, we've been able to, I believe, facilitate safe events for students where social distancing can be maintained, and face coverings are required. Every single event that we've been facilitating we hear from at least half a dozen students about how grateful they are that we are making an effort and trying to do something on campus for campus life.”