In the past, Covenant College has had a regular rotation of dances and events run by our very own Campus Activities Board (CAB). In the Fall, there was always Jazz on the Overlook, Kilter, and then to close out the semester, Mistletoe Mingle; in the Spring there was Juice Jam, Sk80’s, and Spring Formal.
Last year, CAB tried to keep as much of Covenant’s traditional events alive as possible, even if they were in different forms. Since all dances were forbidden, Kilter turned into an outdoor movie, and Spring Formal became a visit to the aquarium.
“Everything had to be distanced so we were trying to figure out ways to modify them, but unfortunately for ones like Mistletoe we just couldn’t have them,” said CAB Director Anna Logan.
This semester many of the COVID-19 restrictions have been lessened, allowing Covenant to have Kilter be a dance again, even if it was outside. “This year we just cannot have events inside in an enclosed area if they are not masked,” according to Logan. However, as the semester continues, the Covid Committee is allowing for some of these lighter restrictions to be relaxed.
“Mistletoe is going to be the next event where we are going to be able to go off campus for the first time since Covid, and in a venue where we don’t have to wear a mask if it's inside,” said Logan.
Students seem to be excited to have events feel more like normal again. “It is closer to normal and I think it's fun to have more things. It’s just nice not to have to think about Covid as much anymore,” said Madelyn Dyk ‘22.
Because of the COVID-19 restrictions last year, Covenant gained some new events that CAB plans to repeat this year. Fall festival was one of those events, but CAB is also considering renting out a movie theatre again next semester.
Even though last year Covenant was not able to do all of their classic events, CAB still managed to make an enjoyable environment for the student body.
“I know some people were disappointed [about no dances], but I think they were doing the best they could in the situation and were being creative,” Dyk mentioned.
An interesting fallout that two years of COVID-19 has had on Covenant events is that people are not as aware of the events that will be coming up. “ I get the email, but I don't really hear the student body talking about the events,” said Megan Glad ‘22. She was not the only student that expressed this sentiment.
“I usually hear about the events at some point, but there were a couple things that I didn’t know of until the day of,” said Dyk.
Although CAB has had many successes this year, advertisement has been a weak point for them.
“Sometimes, being a senior, I just know when all of the events will be, but all of the classes below us haven’t seen a full year of Covenant. Obviously they don’t know what to expect,” Logan said. She mentioned that a part of the problem is not only students knowing when an event is, but also what an event is.
“Sometimes we’ll think that sending out an email a week before is fine and then people will either forget or they don’t really know what it is. So I think that we could do a better job of promoting events more just to make sure that people know what it is and know how it has looked in the past.” said Logan.
Even though there were a few bumps on the road to restarting all of the Covenant traditions, students who have been looking forward to regaining dances and other events can feel relieved that things are moving closer to normal.