Student Clubs Maintain Community from a Distance
By Theresa Gabrielli
Senior physics major Zhiyao Li joined a Zoom room on Tuesday. The faces looking back at her were her fellow Women in Science (WiS) club members. They caught each other up on what had happened in their lives over the last week, told stories about things that made them happy, and shared their insecurities about the future.
"It feels very nice to still have a community and to hear everyone's quarantine stories," said Li, president of WiS.
The coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak has altered virtually every aspect of student life. Campus is empty. Classes have gone remote. All in-person events have been canceled or postponed to prevent further spread of the virus. Student clubs, however, have found some resilience, opting to continue meeting via video conference and maintain a sense of community.
"We decided to continue meeting because we know how important it is to stay connected. We want to be there for each other," said Li.
Although their social events – like outreach activities and the Math Networking Event – had to be canceled, WiS has found that lectures and group discussions can be reasonably conducted online. The club holds weekly meetings via Zoom. On April 7, they continued their Underrepresented Figures in Science Talk Series with a lecture from Dr. Barbara Schinn-Cunningham, director of the Carnegie Mellon Neuroscience Institute.
Unfortunately, not all clubs have found the transition easy to navigate. For the Society of Physics Students (SPS), logistics surrounding time differences and class schedules have complicated the club's ability to meet. "Getting adjusted to the new schedule has led many students to put their extracurriculars on hold so that they can focus on the new learning format," said SPS president and junior physics major Grayson Frazier.
He says the club still plans to celebrate its graduating seniors by remotely holding Sigma Pi Sigma Honors Society inductions later this semester. However, leadership ultimately made the difficult decision to postpone all regular meetings and planned lectures for the remainder of the semester.
Despite the disappointing outcome, Frazier is optimistic about the club’s future in the fall. "SPS is centered around those who have a common passion for physics," he said. "We will continue to do our best to provide a place for people to continue learning."