Zarina Sotero, Staffwriter |
College events are something everyone looks forward to, whether it’s attending team travia in Hunt Union or O-Fest. These events are a great way to bring the SUNY Oneonta community together. But, unfortunately, COVID-19 has taken away these very events. That being said, SUNY Oneonta’s Activities Council and their advisor, Bill Harcleroad, are working diligently to keep spirits high through the implementation of online events.
One of the most popular events on campus was team trivia night in the Hunt Union Living Room. To keep the event going, the Activities Council has been doing weekly online trivia nights on Microsoft Teams – the only difference being it is individual trivia rather that team trivia.
Over 70 people participated last Tuesday, March 31, and according to Harcleroad, the turnout was higher than it would typically be on campus, which was about 60 participants. Players were able to join a Kahoot and answer on their own devices while the questions were displayed through Microsoft Teams.
There were 70 questions total that were divided up into different rounds including geography, sports and even game show hosts. There are three prizes from Red Dragon Outfitters offered for online trivia: a $100 online gift card for the first-place winner, a $75 online gift card to the second-place winner and a $50 online gift card to the third-place winner. “We were purposeful in offering online gift cards for the Red Dragon Outfitters as we want people to keep connected to Oneonta in a way that other kinds of gift cards don’t offer. Also, the store is closed to the public and income from the store helps students through scholarships, so supporting them was important to me,” Harcleroad told the State Times.
In addition to trivia night, the Activities Council has put together a series of events every weekday, except Friday, until the end of the semester. These events include: Empowerment Mondays, Trivia Tuesdays, Whatever Wednesdays and Thoughtful Thursdays.
Empowerment Mondays consist of a personal development leadership series. Whatever Wednesdays is a combination of online speakers and virtual events – including two upcoming Esports tournaments. Thoughtful Thursdays will have campus-based presentations. The Activities Council is offering an incentive for those who attend these online events. For attending six online events, you can get a plant kit that grows Lucky Clovers. If you attend twelve events total, you have the chance to win a free t-shirt that features “You can take the student out of Oney but can’t take the Oney out of this student” printed on the front.
Harcleroad emphasizes that everyone at SUNY Oneonta cares about the students and will do whatever they can to assist, stating, “Please do reach out to any of us and keep us informed of what is happening in your life. We miss you all dearly! Nobody planned for this, but I hope everyone sees we are doing the best we can in these circumstances.” To find out more about upcoming online events, visit Campus Connection at connect.oneonta.edu or look on the CORQ app. Make sure to be logged in to your myoneonta account or you will not be able to see everything as some events are not open to the public.
Leave a Reply