Gordon College: Keeping Community Alive in a Time of Physical Distancing
Many colleges did not return to campus, but those that did brought challenges to the campus themselves and their surrounding communities.
The New York Times reviewed over 200 counties in the United States where students compromised at least 10 percent of the population. They found that, “about half experienced their worst weeks of the pandemic since Aug. 1. In about half of those, figures showed the number of new infections is peaking right now.”
Gordon College, a small liberal arts college in Wenham, Massachusetts made the decision to return to in-person learning, with options of remote and hybrid learning as well. Gordon, being a smaller campus with a population of under 2000 students, has a better chance of keeping a closed bubble. However, this presents its own challenges.
During a time where physical distancing is encouraged, it is important to provide events for students not only to foster community but to encourage students to stay on campus. This decreases the chance of bringing COVID-19 to campus, and keeps the surrounding community safe.
Jacqueline Broberg, Director of Student Activities, explained the importance of connection despite the distance, like this:
“We’re still social creatures and we actually still find ways to be social…I really like the term physical distancing, because I think that’s more appropriate to what we’re actually looking to do…it helps give a better paradigm for what we’re actually trying to do.”
In an email to the student body, Dan Tymann, Vice President of Campus Life stated, “Because we live in such close community, the decisions individuals make impact others in significant ways. With very strong testing results thus far, we want to do all we can to preserve what might be called the Gordon “bubble” on campus by limiting travel off campus.”
If administration expects students to stay on campus, then they must provide events for students to participate in.
A big player in providing these activities is the Campus Events Council, or as it is more commonly known as, CEC.
CEC puts on campus wide events throughout the year for all students to enjoy. This year, that looks different. Kate Gullet, Director of CEC, has confidence in her team’s event planning, even with the restrictions.
“Creating an event during COVID has proved to be quite an interesting challenge. It requires a lot of creativity. This semester our events look a lot different. Instead of our regular movie events, we’re doing drive-ins. We just have to look at the guidelines that are put in front of us, yet still creating new ideas to make people really want to come. Yes, it’s going to be a socially distanced event, but we have to be able to make something where we can promise that it’s still going to be a fun and interactive event for all students.”
Having consistent events for students is key to keep students entertained and on campus. The CEC drive-ins happen every Friday night in Gordon’s chapel parking lot. It gives students something to look forward to each week.
“…for the drive-in nights every Friday, it’s been a nice pattern in the semester that people can rely on to have that movie and just to have a cool experience and sit in their car and watch a movie!”
By 7:30PM, the chapel parking lot was cleared and cars began to roll in. CEC staff wearing neon yellow vests waved cars into spots with toy lightsabers.
This was different than any movie event CEC had put on before, but it was clear that the event was still going to be unique and fun. Elise Losardo, the Film Events Coordinator, explained how the drive-ins were COVID-19 friendly but also still entertaining and creative.
“We have people come in cars with their household only, and they can’t leave the car during the time that they’re here. But we do have a super fun thing where they can text a phone number with their food order and we bring snacks to their car, which we just tried out last week and it went super duper well. So yeah, we have some more things that we’ll probably implement soon.”
Not only do students enjoy the drive-ins, but so do staff. Broberg, who also advises CEC, goes every week with her husband as date night.
“I think the movie nights have been great. I’ve seen a great amount of cars come, I think students are really enjoying them, I think the movie’s are really different so they cover a large swath of people which is really cool, and they’re really a lot of fun. My husband and I go as a date night and we really enjoy it, so I love it. I would continue it after COVID.”
Even though Coronavirus has changed so much about how campuses are run, one thing is clear: community does not have to be sacrificed amid the physical distance, and campus events can create those spaces for it to still flourish.
As Broberg puts it, “Events bond people together. They create a campus culture, they create campus traditions, and they create campus unity. And so it’s crucial that CEC exists in the first place to create events, and in a time where we’re more and more desperate for social interactions, it’s even more crucial that CEC be around to be creating events and creating a sense of community on the college campus.”