Making snow globes was one of the activities that took place during Winter Welcome Week.
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A flurry of Winter Welcome activities has helped students at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga dive back into campus life.
From glow-in-the-dark yoga at the Aquatic and Recreation Center and a snow globe make-and-take at Lupton Hall to a game night and campus organization fair that took place online, students engaged with each other and with faculty and staff in multiple ways.
Contending with a surge in COVID-19 cases this month, organizers shifted some in-person events to virtual affairs but had to cancel the indoor pool party at the ARC outright.
The popular ‘Soundwaves: Winter Wonderland’ was postponed because “that’s an event where you can’t wear masks,” said Cindy Strine, director of Campus Recreation. “Hopefully, we can resurrect it later this semester.”
Still, the pool remains open. Although the numbers of participants allowed in outdoor trips and fitness classes have been lowered slightly to help space people out, the ARC is embracing students returning to the gym and those getting started in the new year.
“We’re one of those places on campus where people come for socialization,” Strine said. “We have to keep the building open, the activities running and the students engaged, and there are a lot of ways for them to do that now and feel safe.”
Gym equipment is still spaced out and other early pandemic protocols remain in place but there’s also a robust and growing list of virtual activities for those avoiding in-person encounters for now, including recorded workouts, virtual trips and live “Zen cams” from around the world (with feeds that include things such as seal pups frolicking on the beach at a wildlife refuge in Maine.)
While creating a vision board at the University Center on Jan. 12 as part of Welcome Week, junior William Savoy said he felt encouraged to be back on campus.
“I’m enjoying the school year. This is my first real year on campus,” said the health and physical education major who has spent much of his time in college online. “I think I think students have adjusted to this just being the way it is. You just gotta roll with it.”
The aspirational exercise was organized by the Center for Career and Leadership Development so students could reflect on their goals for 2022 and how to accomplish them.
“A vision board gives them something tangible to help them manifest their plans,” said Daniel Grzesik, director for leadership development programs at the center
The event was held twice as part of last-minute adjustments by Winter Welcome planners who waited until Jan. 10 to push out the list of activities to students.
“We’ve learned our lesson the past two years when it comes to scheduling things, advertising them and then having to cancel. Waiting until Monday really helped students. They didn’t see a lot of whiplash like they have in the past,” said lead organizer Elena Grace Anderson, assistant director for fraternity and sorority life in the Office of Student and Family Engagement.
“Our campus partners really stepped up and worked with our office to figure out how we could do these events safely. At this point, students are used to the Zoom world. They know how to navigate breakout rooms. It’s kind of old hat for them,” she said.
Most students who came out to the physical events wore masks, which were strongly encouraged, or they stayed in their pod of 3 or 4 friends, she said.
Balancing safety and engagement can be challenging, Anderson said, “but it’s very important for us to welcome students back to campus to show we miss them and care about them.”
