Photo courtesy of Covenant College Marketing
From November 6 to November 8, Covenant welcomed 200 prospective students to stay overnight on campus for sneakPEAK weekend. While this event is not new to students, Covenant struggled to find enough people to host the large sneakPEAK crowd.
Bryonie Moon ’01, assistant director of admissions, explains the difficulty the college faced in finding housing for all the prospective students. She says, “It was harder this November to get hosts than I thought it would be … I do think the timing of the academic year is significant.”
However, Moon also sympathizes with the students when it comes to their hesitance to host for sneakPEAK. “Two nights is a big ask … It feels different than just one night,” she comments.
Mila Di Lopes Pires ’26, an admissions worker, says that Covenant students should be willing to host prospective students overnight since “it’s really important for our community to be flexible and willing to practice hospitality.”
Pires explains the importance of having prospective students stay overnight rather than having them just visit the campus during the day. She says, “Being able to connect in a hall is what makes Covenant’s community as vibrant and tight-knit as it is. We aren’t able to demonstrate that with our tours …With prospective students staying overnight, they’re able to get a glimpse of how day-to-day life is here.”
Despite the hesitation to host, there are many students who find hosting prospective students enjoyable and even exciting.
Mac Messer ’26, who has hosted over five times, comments on why he loves to host students for sneakPEAK weekend. “I really valued it when I came and stayed as a student … It was part of the reason that I wanted to come here,” he explains.
Suzie Scott ’29, who hosted a prospective student for the first time this semester, agrees with Messer. “Being hosted … was the thing that made me want to go to Covenant, so I wanted to provide that opportunity for someone else,” she says.
Still, the recent hesitance to host might make one question what this reveals about Covenant’s hospitality. However, this problem does not bother Moon. She is optimistic about the issue, saying, “Hospitality is so much of who we are at Covenant, and I think it can be easy for people to think hospitality is only when we’re hosting prospective students, which is so not true … Hospitality is everywhere in our culture.”
According to Moon, hospitality does not start and end with hosting prospective students overnight. “Just because someone isn’t able to host a prospective student doesn’t mean they’re not hospitable,” she states.
Despite the lack of students initially willing to host for sneakPEAK, all the prospective students who signed up to stay overnight found a bed to sleep on and a community to be surrounded by. While students may have initially hesitated to welcome the recent sneakPEAK group, doors were eventually opened wide.
Thumbnail photo courtesy of Covenant College Marketing.