By: Katelyn Norris
The Covid-19 pandemic has taken many in-person events away in 2020 and 2021, but Bellarmine’s registered organizations managed to create meaningful events throughout this academic year.
For the 2020-2021 academic year as of March 10, there have been 1,270 in-person events and only 339 fully online events. Interim Director of Student Activities Bryan Hamann said these results are surprising to him and he believes many RSOs have pushed for in-person events this year.
“I think in the beginning of the year, organizations were much more apt to do something online. I think they found it was much more labor-intensive to reimagine a whole event in person and to bring it online,” Hamann said. “I think these numbers are clearly indicating and supporting their argument there that we need to continue to think about how we can incorporate our students who are fully remote.”
Addie Rogers, president of Mock Trial, said members have chosen to do all of their competitions this semester in a hybrid format. Rogers said each member of Mock Trial will sit in a room in Centro or Pasteur and compete over Zoom. However, she said competing has lost the dramatics due to moving online.
“Presenting in the courtroom it’s very emotional and normally like your body language and the way you walk around the courtroom influences your score, and now you’re just sitting in a little box,” Rogers said. “Everyone has good content in their material in their speeches and they know what they’re doing and what really sets you apart besides body language and tone and all that stuff. That is very difficult to do right now.”
Despite the difficulties in communication, Rogers said there have been some positives to come out of their new normal. She said there is usually never any technology in the courtroom during their normal mock trial proceedings. However, this year she said she is thrilled they are allowed to use PowerPoints and digital diagrams in their presentations.
“In the past, if you wanted to blow up exhibits, you had to make a poster and it was very old- fashion,” Rogers said. “Because it’s virtual, they have allowed us to use technology so we can make like animations, and that has been something that’s been really fun to play with. I hope they keep it; I don’t know if they will.”
President of Bellarmine Activities Council Cass Marlow said they have changed many of their traditional events this semester due to student safety concerns. She expressed sadness at not getting to plan events like Ball on the Belle and Homecoming off campus.
“We had to find our way around those big events. We put on a number of fests this year, with our first being Fall Fest, which went over really well,” Marlow said.
Marlow said BAC strived to create outdoor events throughout the year to increase social distancing. With BAC’s ever-popular bingo nights, she said they noticed a decline in attendance this year. Marlow said they put a large portion of their budget into their most recent bingo, which had the highest attendance of the year with approximately 115 people.
“What I’ve always loved about bingo was the energy everyone brought to the game. We wanted everyone to know our events were safe, and luckily at our last bingo we were able to bring back that energy,” Marlow said.
Covy Giles said Black Student Union created hybrid events for its members through the semester. Giles is 100% online this semester so he said it has been difficult to connect with others but BSU has tried to make its events a positive bonding experience.
“There were some events that we planned that got too carried away and we forgot about social distancing. But we have managed to hold a few events where we can all hang out together,” Giles said.
Despite the larger events Bellarmine and its RSOs have held over the past year, there have not been any connections to a Covid outbreak, Hamann said. He said when bigger events are planned on campus, the staff in the Student Activities Center will check in with these groups as well as have SAC or Student Affairs faculty at the event.
“It’s exciting for us to go to event. But we all have a lot of the same anxieties and hesitations about safety,” Hamann said. “But I have been incredibly proud of our students. They’ve really adapted and have fully embraced this new culture.”
Looking into Fall 2021, Hamann said he hopes events on campus will be business as usual. He said he wants to provide students with traditional BU events and hopes everyone can experience them again soon.
“We recognize creating those memories is part of being a Knight. Ball on the Belle, for example was the one that we clearly could not make happen this year,” Hamann said. “But we’re gonna see if we can make happen going forward because I know that it is a very signature experience and is something very unique to the Bellarmine community.”