Joanna Orban

Copy Editor

College students around the country are no strangers to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. As they’ve shuffled back and forth between their homes and dorms and taken classes online or on Zoom, they all have dealt with the loneliness that is plaguing many students.

College is widely acknowledged to be a social awakening for students as they make new friends and join new clubs. Due to COVID-19, these activities, many of which have been taken for granted, have been moved online or simply canceled. Students at Idaho State University are certainly aware of this.

However, even though many events have to be held online or must adhere to strict social distancing standards, the ISU Student Activity Board (SAB) has still found ways to continue hosting traditional and well-beloved campus events.

Idaho State senior Ben Storms, who serves as director of SAB, knows how important it is for students to be able to go to events.

“SAB has been a part of student life for quite a while and we have that platform and that responsibility to provide students those opportunities to be able to branch out and make friends,” Storms said.

SAB has several events coming up during the rest of the Spring 2021 semester. One of the most popular events that SAB hosts is its annual Bingo Night. Bingo will be held Jan. 28 and will be held online. According to Storms, “Students will have a chance to win a whole bunch of cool prizes.” Students will be able to register online using Google Forms in order to reserve their spot. The sign-up form can be found on the SAB website which is www.isu.edu/sab/. Although many students may be turned off by virtual events Storms says that Bingo Nights have large turnouts and at the end of last fall semester were regularly seeing 80-90 people log on.

Another traditional campus event that is hosted by SAB is Bengal Wednesday, where you wear Bengal gear to get Bengal gear. In the past, SAB has given out stickers, socks and a variety of other Bengal gear. The next Bengal Wednesday will be on Feb. 3 at 11:30 AM in the PSUB. On Bengal Wednesdays in the past, students have also been required to show their Bengal ID cards so students should be sure to have those in handy this time as well.

Another event that Storms and the SAB are putting together is a virtual ISU’s Got Talent. Previously this event has been held in person, but this year auditions and voting will all be held virtually. More rules can be found on the SAB website but the deadline to send in a virtual audition is Jan. 29. Once auditions have been submitted SAB will select the final contestants. Those selected contestants will then have a chance to recreate their audition videos. Online voting will run from Feb. 26 to March 5. There will be cash prizes reward for first, second and third place. In addition, student voters will be entered into a raffle for a prize.

SAB is struggling with its virtual events because it is difficult to connect with students who have already been on Zoom for their classes and may not want to sit in front of their computers for another hour. “We are trying to make it as enticing as possible,” Storms said.

SAB posts information regarding its events on its Instagram account which is @isusab. In addition to posting about regular events on their SAB also posts about special events such as when they gave away tickets to Lava Hot Springs or when they handed out free flavored popcorn. Students can also stay tuned for virtual lip-sync battles that will have more information posted soon.

Despite COVID-19, SAB hopes to continue to “inspire campus pride by promoting student involvement, self-growth, unity and traditions within all hosted ISU events.”