Student Life prepares for a virtual fun-filled semester

“CARDINALS” signage in the Rotunda. Vanguard Photo | Audrey Bergey

Due to the pandemic, many changes have been made across campus. However, Student Life is still planning on putting on many events to keep students engaged.

The first big event being put on by Student Life will be Valley Movie Nights.

“We finally got it all approved for Friday night,” said Jason Schoenmeyer,
Associate Dean of Student Life. “We have ‘Birds of Prey,’ which we started promoting (Wednesday).”

The movie will take place at a new location with safety measures put in place
to meet NEST guidelines.

“The soccer stadium is going to be our location for our outdoor movies,” Schoenmeyer said. “People will enter through the north gate and will be able to park there, too. We are only allowing 90 people for our showing. We have a ton of giveaways we’re going to do.”

He said everything is up and running, and things will go on as planned, if weather permits.

“We tested everything on Monday with a private showing,” Schoenmeyer said. “We wanted to make sure we can maintain the social distancing and make sure everything is safe. If all goes well, we are going to show (the move) Thursday.”

Along with Valley Movie Nights, Program Board has events planned each week.

On Wednesday, Sept. 2, Drag Queen Bingo will be held over Zoom. Up to 500 people can come and play for prizes. All the queens booked were on “RuPaul’s Drag Race”.

Student Life also has comedians, musicians and other entertainers in mind and may turn these types of events into a series like Coffee House and Pinterest Nights.

In place of the normal Pinterest Nights, Program Board is doing “Take-It, Make-It” crafts. They are also working on booking a virtual illusionist, a speed sketcher and more.

Although GLIAC sports have been cancelled for this semester, homecoming festivities may still occur.

“I don’t have anything official yet, but we are prepared to have virtual competitions as well as live ones,” Schoenmeyer said. “We are just waiting to hear word on the plans for that.”

In place of Cards Party and Red Pride Picnic, Student Association and Student Life have collaborated to create “Cards Week.” The week of events will kick off on Sunday, Sept. 13, and run through Friday, Sept. 18.

We’re still going to have tables in the courtyard, and different RSOs will come in for their shifts and we will be cleaning in between the shifts, but we are theming each day,” Schoenmeyer said. “RSOs will also be able to upload videos now on SVSU Engage. We are asking them to create a video like they’re standing at a booth talking about their organization.”

RSOs will still be able to hold meetings and create events, so long they follow the new regulations from Student Life and the administration.

“We didn’t book things going into our first week because the priority is education,” Schoenmeyer said. “Number one is in-person education. We wanted the first week for that. Plus, (plans) kept changing.”

Schoenmeyer reminded students to stay safe and follow the university’s guidelines.

“Stay safe, that’s the biggest thing,” he said. “Cardinals take care of cardinals. Stay positive. We’ll be offering different ways to stay engaged with each other. Normal will come again.”

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