Sam Cavalea, a first-year student, did not know anyone when she first stepped foot on Sacred Heart University’s campus this fall. With all of the restrictions that were in place due to the COVID-19 pandemic, she did not know where to start when it came to getting involved on campus.
With the help of The First 50 Days Events that were accessible for all students on campus, Cavalea got the opportunity to partake in some of the activities available. These activities included a farmer’s market, creating custom phone wallets, and getting the opportunity to talk to members of Greek Life on campus.
“The First 50 Days events were definitely impactful for the freshmen this year, as it’s harder than ever to get out of the dorm room because of the pandemic,” said Cavalea. “It has been really great to have fun activities right at my fingertips every day.”
The First 50 Days Events are campus-wide programs that are intended to get students involved on campus during their first few months at Sacred Heart. It is filled with social, informative and academic activities that have been planned by many of the different clubs and organizations on campus.
Some of the organizations that held events frequently were Greek Life, the Student Events Team, Club Sports, Student Activities and Campus Ministry. There were also events hosted by the Student Life Department. They offered paint nights, virtual bingo nights and virtual game nights for all students to attend.
“As a freshman, you get many emails and you don’t know what’s actually important. So figure you can put it in a pamphlet, and it says the time, the location and just a description of what the thing is, then they can pick and choose what they find any interest in,” said junior Mari Fay, First 50 Days and Welcome Week Co-Coordinator.
Since COVID-19 affected how these events were typically run, the Student Life Department had to come up with ways to make sure that all of the events were able to still take place by following the safety guidelines. With these guidelines, most events had to take place outside. The cabanas and tents near the quad were used nearly every day to hold events run by different organizations.
The First 50 Days events were promoted through weekly emails, along with pamphlets that were handed out to students.
Katherine Morovich, Director of First Year Programs, was in charge of contacting all on-campus organizations to see if they had any events planned that they wanted to be featured in the virtual brochure. She then compiled the information she received from the organizations and shared the time, date, location and description with the first-year students.
The First 50 Days ran from Aug. 31 through Oct. 19. During this time, there were over 300 different events held.
Morovich said the turnout of these events was good considering the COVID-19 guidelines.
“It’s hard for anyone when you’re in a new environment to reach out to people and get involved that way,” said Fay. “So we’re giving them a chance, putting it out there for them and saying at this time, you can go see this club or go to this event, and meet people, because that’s the best way sometimes.”
For future questions or suggestions, email orientation@sacredheart.edu.
