Continuing to get students to participate in their clubs, club leaders are using social media platforms like Instagram and other virtual platforms to communicate with members. Due to the COVID-19 situation, clubs are unable to meet and plan events to get the community involved, but many clubs are finding other ways around it.
According to Unified Sports member Jonathan Booz, Unified is holding a virtual spirit week to get students to continue to be involved in the club.
“We have also had multiple students film ‘Commit to Fit’ videos for Special Olympics. These are fitness challenges to encourage athletes to stay active during these trying times,” Booz said.
Not only is Unified getting members involved, but so is the Athletic Leadership Council (ALC). According to ALC member Hana Ekecs, ALC ran a spirit week on their Instagram account to get students involved.
“Student-athletes tagged us in videos and pictures that went with the theme of each day,” Ekecs said.
While clubs are taking advantage of social media, FIMRC is staying connected through GroupMe to get students to be involved in their current upcoming events. According to FIMRC president Medha Kurukunda, her club is trying to help people stay healthy during this pandemic.
“We are going to start posting health tips every week in our group chat so that people get reminders on how to stay safe during this global crisis,” Kurukunda said.
FIMRC is also trying to help others during this pandemic. According to Kurukunda, her club is donating money to the national FIMRC organization.
“As a club, we are donating $1,000 to FIMRC to help them during these times since they lost over 90% of their revenue,” Kurukunda said. “This money will go towards helping keep the nine sites up and running that they have all over the world.”
Even though Art and Soul Fest is postponed indefinitely, the club is still trying to promote the art of those participating. According to Art and Soul Fest leader Avery Gallagher, she has come up with an idea to have students share their art through the Art and Soul Fest instagram page.
“We posted to our Instagram a video explaining that the festival is postponed indefinitely for this year, but we had to find a way to keep the spirit of art and soul fest alive at home. We encouraged them to tag us in their posts about what they had been creating,” Gallagher said. “We have gotten so many creative responses, with people bullet journaling, singing new songs and even creating a rock guitar arrangement.”
Although clubs are going through a rough time trying to stay connected, many of them are hopeful for the future. According to Unified member Ella Kregel, she is really excited for what is to come next year.
“I am ready to take a leadership role in the club and be able to take our experiences from this quarantine into our next season,” Kregel said. “I think that we will be able to connect more as a club after being separated for so long.”
According to Ekecs, ALC is also trying to stay hopeful and get athletes involved even though they can’t have a season.
“We have been keeping positive thoughts and have been brainstorming ways our spring athletes can still somehow participate in their 2020 sports season, especially for the seniors,” Ekecs said.
Fundraisers and events are what keep FIMRC positive, according to Kurukunda.
“The fact that we still have next year to do all of our fundraisers and reach our goal for $2,400 for our Adopt-A-Project has kept me and the rest of the club hopeful about what will come in the near future,” Kurkunda said.