Staff Writer: Alexandria Sessions
The once quiet campus becomes noisy with the buzz of students coming back to Wingate for the spring semester. However, their plans are cut short temporarily due to the increasing numbers of positive COVID cases in North Carolina.
“While it’s not ideal, it’s more important for students to still have that aspect of social interaction that comes with clubs, even if it’s over a Zoom format,” said Amanda Alling, Wingate’s Assistant Director of Campus Involvement. “For precautions, of course everyone needs to follow all university protocols and do their best to remain safe and healthy.”
It is important that Registered Student Organizations (RSO) are prepared to give students entertainment and take precautions when planning their events, whether it be in-person or on zoom. “Masks are still going to be required and we will still be allowing people to join virtually if they are sick or are uncomfortable with in-person learning but still want to be a part of BSU,” Iyanna Salters, President of Black Student Union said.
A lot rides on these RSO’s when it comes to providing students with an exciting semester for incoming students and returning students. For those students who are involved in sororities and fraternities, the rules are still the same according to College Panhellenic Council President (CPC), Abbi Vail.
“From my knowledge a lot of the organizations are doing a hybrid schedule where they do some in-person and some online. It depends on what the meetings and events are.” Vail said, “So for CPC we will host in-person meetings for our executive board and the panhellenic delegates in the Student Organization suite and we are able to spread and practice social distancing.”
Alling wants to see all organizations thrive during these contagious times. In order to ensure safe but fun events, the Chi Omega Alumna has some suggestions for the RSO’s to get the most out of this semester with Omicron looming over.
“They need to be ready for any direction the campus goes, so knowing what is needed to do is a top priority,” Alling said. “Another suggestion is to remain communicative with your club members; we are all going through this pandemic together, and students have shown amazing grace and understanding when plans have changed unexpectedly.”
February 1st marks the beginning of in-person classes, in-person events, and Black History Month. The Black Student Union is ready for it because “February is a huge month for our organization and we have a few events planned out that we are truly excited to see on campus,” Salters said.
Alling cautions that while students are anticipating the in-person events coming up in February, we do not want to forget that we are still in a pandemic, “Overall, the most important thing to everyone is the health and safety of students. This is our priority and it helps inform our every decision in Involvement,” Alling said. “As always, we encourage students to share their own perspectives and reach out to any of our staff if they ever need anything.”
Interested in the upcoming events and for the rest of the semester? Take a look at the Involvement app, CORQ. This app has all of Wingate’s events listed for faculty, staff, and students to view. Sports games, RSO events, and lyceums can be seen here. Want more of an inside look at the RSO’s? Follow the Instagram page @wustudentorg for event updates for RSO’s, Greek Life, and involvement events.
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