By: Lily Theisen
SGEF is hosting an on-campus Grab N’ Go tabling event that students are eager to get off their screens to attend despite the continuing pandemic.
The Grab N’ Go tabling event is in replacement of SGEF’s annual Lunch and Learn event and will be mainly hosted online throughsocial media posts, except for the Grab N’ Go tabling.
This event will be hosted in front of The Nest from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m on Feb 24.
SGEF Chair, Min Min (Jewel) Kelly said that she hopes the event will educate students about SGEF but also help them network and put a face to the SGEF logo because many students do not know they are automatically a part of the organization.
“Every student pays one dollar per credit hour they take. This is automatically charged and voted on by students every three years,” Kelly said. “Before Covid, students were able to come together and learn about what SGEF is, what it can do, and it’s potential.”
With COVID still being a threat, SGEF has worked hard to make sure the event follows all campus regulations and puts the safety of students at top priority.
Kelly said that the event will be hosted primarily on social media. Students will be able to view posts about SGEF on Instagram for the month leading up to the event.
“The goal is to network with students, similar to the lunch and learn, we want students to follow us so they can receive updates on what their tuition is investing in. We want students to share our content with friends because not everyone knows about SGEF and the social media posts themselves include information on what student money has gone towards,” Kelly said.
At the tabling event students will be able to pass by or stay for five minutes or less to share one fact they learned about SGEF through the social media posts in order to earn goodies. The goodies include, SGEF branded glass water bottles, masks, tote bags, flower starter kit, and bamboo cutlery.
Although the organization was hesitant to host a non-virtual event, Kelly said the group was also hesitant about the amount of impact their event would have if it were held virtually. She said that in order to make SGEF and the event known, they would have to host something on campus.
“I am a strong advocate for non-computer related events because as a student myself, I don’t want to attend them,” Kelly said.
Students agree, virtual events are not their favorite and rarely help them connect with campus organizations or make friends.
Grace Skipper, a Freshman majoring in Biology, is planning to attend the event. She has never experienced a pandemic free campusand said that she can’t wait to be able to participate in a part of the university community, even if it is at a distance.
“I want to go to the SGEF event for the reason it is there. To meet people, you know, network, and I am actually super interested in that club. It is what I’m passionate about, conservation through education. I’m really excited about that and learning more about it,” Skipper said.
Sofia Arango is also a Freshman majoring in Biology who is planning to attend the event. Arango said that she is also excited for the event because she said she thinks it is important students know about SGEF and its impact.
She also said that she has had experience with online club events in the previous semester and did not enjoy them.
“At least for me personally, when it comes to virtual events it was just so draining, especially because in my school life, that was all I was doing. I was constantly on my computer. So, when it was an activity still on a computer, it was just not an activity I was interested in at all,” Arango said.
Although SGEF said they know students are excited for the event. They said safety is their top priority. To ensure student safety, SGEF said the event will follow all campus policies regarding theCoronavirus Pandemic. They plan to use chalk on the ground to help create physical distancing, hand sanitizer, and masks will be provided.