Student leaders work to bring Aggie spirit back to campus

Student leaders in Logan are using the pandemic as a catalyst to reimagine campus events as part of an effort to bring “Aggie spirit” back to Utah State University.

“For each event and program, we are looking for ways to both reignite and reinvent our activities and traditions,” Utah State University Student Association public relations director Max Roberts said.

That began with USU’s Weeks of Welcome events, which were held from Aug. 30 to Sept. 11. USUSA’s vice president of student events, Alexis Needleman, said the mission was to “go big or go home.”

“To make up for lost time we packed our schedule as much as we could,” Needleman said. “We did that by offering multiple events every afternoon and evening during Weeks of Welcome.”

New events were added to supplement existing WOW traditions, such as a concert hosted in the USU Field House.

USUSA president Lucas Stevens said event planners have dedicated lots of time and effort to make up for what has been missed over the past year and a half.

“With the events office being right next to mine,” Stevens said, “I’ve witnessed students working extremely hard and thoroughly planning throughout the entire summer.”

Stevens and Rogers both noted that the ability to host events is predicated on safety. To that end, they called on fellow students to get vaccinated and recommended the wearing of masks.

“We are still in this pandemic and must continue to do our part to keep ourselves and our community safe,” Roberts said. “Ultimately it is up to us as a student body — and a university community — to determine how we endure the rest of the pandemic. We USUSA leaders sincerely hope our peers choose to keep USU student life as vibrant and engaging as it can be.”