Student Senate held a spirit week for the first time this year, here’s how it went. Photo by either Greg Clark or James McIntosh.
In hopes to raise student’s spirits in the wake of a canceled Spring Break, The University of Rhode Island’s Student Senate and Student Alumni Association (SAA) hosted a spirit week.
While the University usually does not have a spirit week, both the Student Senate and the SAA decided that now was a good time to do one due to lack of in-person classes, the cancellation of Spring Break and fatigue that students are experiencing as the semester closes.
The week featured a variety of events for students, all of which were hosted by Senate and the SAA.
On Monday, students were able to make stuffed animals and get clothes for them in the Memorial Union. On Tuesday, the Rhody Eatz food truck served ice cream outside of the Union. Students were able to pick up bamboo plants on Wednesday to decorate their dorms or homes. An online trivia game was held on Thursday, where the top 10 students won gift baskets. The winners of the event were announced on Friday. The week ended with yard games held on the Quad, featuring games such as Spikeball and KanJam.
Although many students are not on campus due to classes being moved online, Student Organization Committee Chair Katie Siegle, who hosted many of the events, said that the week was a success.
“Spirit week went great,” she said. “We had a lot of student participation, and we had a lot of turnout to all of our events. I was thrilled to see the URI community wanting to take part in campus activities since it has been so difficult to do so this year.”
SAA President Jennifer Newport agreed with Siegle that the week was a success on campus. Newport and the rest of the SAA worked together to organize the events and attended them, as well.
“I think all the events that the Student Senate and SAA hosted had a lot of student engagement, especially the URI trivia and stuffed animal event,” Newport said.
While some events were held in person, others, such as the trivia game, were held virtually. Between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. Thursday, SAA posted 25 questions for students to answer. The top 10 players were announced the next day: Kirsten Blake, Greg Cox, Shelby Mendes, Caleb Hilyard, Abby Capraro, Luke Aronis, Emma North, Griffin Martin, Isabelia Marin, and Habiba Mabrouk. They all won gift baskets made by the SAA.
The in-person events abided by COVID-19 safety regulations, to prevent overcrowding during COVID-19, students were asked to register online to attend the in-person events.
The events were a success with students and many enjoyed the events, during a time where fewer events are being held than a usual year.
Siegle said that with this spirit week being so successful, she is planning on holding a similar event next year. She hopes that the next event will draw even more students when the COVID-19 pandemic is under control.
“I hope we can do something like this next year,” she said.