As the fall semester begins, full of unplanned chaos and difficult transitions back into academia, the students of Covenant College are definitely ready for some normalcy. Luckily, Student Senate is working hard to make sure Covenant students get to experience a taste of normal traditions.
While events must look different this year—unfortunately, no packing the entire student body together in a mosh pit at the zoo—Justine Blick ’21, the head of the Campus Activities Board (CAB), is determined to continue to hit the interests of the student body. In her role as CAB director, Blick plans all campus events with her team. She is full of passion and excitement for this community, even in this semester that is far from traditional.
When asked how she hopes that Senate and CAB can help draw the community together, she said, “My hope this semester is to really be carriers of joy. It’s very easy to be Debbie Downers this semester and not have it go our way and be discouraged, but I hope to be joyful in the things we can do and be excited in the little things, and be grateful for the fact that the Lord sees us. As CAB director I can be that vessel to serve the students in fun ways.”
CAB is fully supported by the Senate. Student Body President Hannah Groenendyk ’21 said that out of all the members of Senate, CAB has had the most difficulty with the rise of COVID-19. This is due to the fact that typical CAB events are large public group gatherings. Traditional Covenant events are usually dances, so a big challenge for Student Senate is trying to reframe their events to allow students to remain six feet apart.
CAB is still operating with the same budget as last year. Blick and her team have a lot of room for creativity as they hope to sprinkle joy and fun throughout the campus. She is also very conscious of the safety measures put in place to protect this campus.
She said, “We will not be getting into situations that will allow the restrictions to be broken.”
Groenendyk says that Student Senate is “maybe rethinking what is fun for campus—I think the encouraging thing about being six feet apart is that we can still have conversation. A big part of coming back to campus is just to rejoice in the presence of other people, even if that looks different.”
After the surprise announcement that Kilter will be occurring later this month, both Blick and Groenendyk are very excited about bringing such a familiar Covenant event back to campus with a twist. This year Kilter will be on September 25 down in Shadowlands, and Covenant students are invited to dress up as their favorite superheroes to watch “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.”
While Blick and Groenendyk still want to keep other plans that CAB has for student events under wraps, they both promise that Student Senate will be sprinkling joy among the students in many different ways. In everything they are doing, they hope to bring excitement and delight to our student body through a lot of surprises and thoughtful plans.
Groenendyk’s prayer for our campus this year focuses on Colossians 3:12-17, which calls us to act as God’s chosen people in all we do and say. She said, “I pray that whatever happens on the campus this semester and this year, whether in word or deed, whether in a Student Senate meeting or in a fun event, that everything would be done in the name of our Lord Jesus and that we would be thankful. We have a lot to be sad for and a lot to mourn, but we also have a lot to be thankful for.”
This semester is proving to be difficult and there are many unfamiliar things to get used to. But thankfully, Student Senate is working incredibly hard to bring us joy, laughter and fun amidst all of these trials.