Written By: Chaya Gurkov
Two weeks ago, Brooklyn College’s Undergraduate Student Government (USG) took the opportunity to offer something more entertaining to students finding themselves disconnected and wasting hours scrolling through social media, with an initiative dubbed “Virtual Spirit Week.”
USG offered participants a chance to show off their school spirit by participating in the challenges and tagging their account – @BCUSGStudentGov – every day from Sunday, Apr. 26 to Saturday, May 2.
“Now is the time, more than ever for us to join together. Let’s celebrate the place that has brought us all together: Brooklyn College,” wrote USG in an initial post that showed off the interactive events they had planned.
The Virtual Spirit Week was kicked off with “Spirit Sunday” on April 26, in which participants followed a simple task: post a picture of their favorite Brooklyn College apparel or gear.
Students were all too happy to oblige. One contributor, Kimberly Deann posted a picture of herself sporting a BC USG cap with the caption: “In honor of #spiritweekbc: this hat was the very first item I bought when I stepped foot onto @bklyncollege411 campus. When I told people I had to travel two hours back and forth to get to school, their response was always the same ‘You buggin!’ or ‘Why?’ And my response never changed ‘I feel at home here.’ I was able to grow academically, physically, mentally, and spiritually especially with the help of the Personal Counseling center and the Magner Career Center.”
The Student Government was noticeably pleased with the outpouring of love for Brooklyn College, writing underneath day two’s challenge called “Moving Monday” that, “yesterday’s display of Brooklyn College Gear was astonishing!”
The events continued throughout the week, next up a Virtual Escape Room on Tuesday
that strayed from the posting-on-instagram-format of the two previous days, challenging participants to digitally solve the identity of two shooters in under an hour.
COVID Cooking Show Wednesday and Skills and Thrills Thursday followed suit, both asking partakers to post pictures of their favorite “quarantine cuisine” or one of their hobbies with the #SpiritWeekBC.
One account user named Alexa Pizzarello did just that, and posted a picture of a plate filled with brussel sprouts and croquettes she made, writing, “life hasn’t been rainbows, for anyone… and I really miss my cat but one positive thing about all this is the increased amount of time I now have for cooking moat of the days.”
The Stay Home Scavenger Hunt came on Friday, requiring partakers to find a list of items such as a pair of slippers, nail clippers, and a piggy bank to show off on their instagram accounts. Next came Netflix and Chill Series, an movie viewing event co-sponsored by the Student Activities Involvement and Leadership (SAIL) Center every Saturday. Spirit Week ended with a Daily Bulldog Trivia on Sunday that tested people’s knowledge of Brooklyn College with three trivia questions.
Different clubs and sororities jumped on the bandwagon as well, with the Tau Tau Chapter of the Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority posting a picture of one of their members wearing a Brooklyn college shirt with the caption, “Its Spirit Sunday!!! Today we have Soror Smith showing off her favorite Brooklyn College apparel.”
The Puerto Rican Alliance at Brooklyn College posted a picture on their Instagram story with the President of the Alliance, Danny Vázquez Sanabria, surrounded by a bevy of Brooklyn College apparel. He wrote, “When I heard about virtual spirit week I knew my reindeer onesie was not enough. I literally collect all the @bcstudentgov merch!”