Since the outbreak of COVID-19, NC State moved the remainder of the spring semester online, and students finished their semester remotely. In addition to impacting students academically, this decision meant student religious organizations had to modify the way they ran their groups to ensure students could still gather and worship from a distance.
For both Elizabeth Reidy, a fourth-year studying business administration and a member of the Catholic Campus Ministry, and Eli Newman, a fourth-year studying computer science and the president of Hillel at NC State, a Jewish organization on campus, one of the most important things to focus on was preserving a strong sense of community.
“It is definitely hard not to be in a church or chapel worshipping with others,” Reidy said. “Also, up until a few weeks ago, we were not able to receive the Eucharist which is a large part of the Catholic Mass, but we are lucky to live in a virtual world and still be able to celebrate Mass on Facebook, Youtube or even TV.”
For Newman, planning events for group members to engage in together online was an important part of helping students stay connected. Newman said preserving the important components of the Jewish faith, like gathering for the annual Shabbat dinner which was impossible this year, was crucial.
“We are currently running a summer version of Hillel, so we’re trying to run a couple of events over the summer, which we don’t normally do, but because of the circumstances, we’re going to try to give some people a couple more opportunities to hang out with everyone,” Newman said. “We’re currently planning an event; it’s a cooking style where we’re encouraging everybody to cook a Jewish meal or something, like a family’s recipe, and just share it online on our page.”
For Reidy, being able to retain a sense of community was important. She used social media to connect with other members she hadn’t connected with in person, which gave her the opportunity to meet new friends and expand her community even more.
For Newman, finding ways to keep members engaged was somewhat of a challenge due to the lack of consistency brought on by physical distancing, but he and the other members of Hillel still found ways to be creative.
“We tried to help students by providing little boxes of Passover materials, and we were delivering them to students’ houses and dropping them off in front of their house, and we were able to do that for students who lived in the Research Triangle area, so like Chapel Hill, Durham and Raleigh, so that helped a little bit,” Newman said. “We brought them matzo ball soup, and a prayer book and stuff like that, which I think a lot of people appreciated.”
When asked what she would tell students who might be on the fence about joining a religious organization that doesn’t meet in person, Reidy said that although their meetings look a lot different, the core values of her organization, including faith and togetherness, are still the same.
“I would tell them that I was in their place a few years ago, not sure about joining this group, but that the people have been supportive and welcoming since day one,” Reidy said. “Although things have changed virtually, reaching out to the Instagram account or someone in GroupMe to mention that you will be there will allow us to introduce others with you.”
Similarly, Newman emphasized the importance of seeking out a group to be a part of on campus, especially when the future is so uncertain.
“Obviously we’re still trying to figure out the details of what NC State’s going to be doing, but I would tell them that with all of this going on, it’s even more important to be able to find this kind community,” Newman said. “I think knowing I can go to Hillel and I can be with a bunch of people who will be nice, and who will really care about me, I think that is really more valuable than ever.”
For students interested in learning more about or joining a religious or spiritual organization on campus, click here for a list of clubs.
