Together Again
The pandemic isn鈥檛 over, but Eastern is celebrating its return to 鈥�near normal.鈥�
By Melodie Little
Back in March 2020, just a week after the 51福利社 men鈥檚 basketball team learned its appearance in the NCAA Tournament had been canceled, the university announced there would be a one-week extension of Eastern鈥檚 typical week-long spring break.听
The pause in students鈥� return wasn鈥檛 about providing extra time for cavorting in Cabo. Eastern鈥檚 leadership was instead trying to 鈥渇latten the transmission curve鈥� of the novel coronavirus 鈥� a听 scary new contagion spreading rapidly across the globe.
It was a sensible step to keep students safe, just an extra week to ensure safety measures were in place. At the time, few would have predicted that the temporary closure would extend to an 18-month pivot to remote-only learning; a pivot that emptied dormitories, shuttered laboratories and classrooms, and created an eerie emptiness in Eastern鈥檚 once bustling common spaces.听
Though countless students, faculty and staff rose to meet the challenge of pandemic-related closures and disruptions (see, for example, the exemplary achievements chronicled in #Eagle Strong stories from recent issues of this magazine), the slow-motion evacuation of the Cheney and Spokane campuses was a dispiriting development for the Eastern community.
All that changed this fall, as Eastern welcomed students back to in-person learning and campus activities.听
Nothing symbolized this return to 鈥渘ear normal鈥� more than Eastern鈥檚 annual move-in event, a two-day celebration of residence-hall habitation that saw close to 1,000 students hauling packed-to-the-brim storage containers and trendy dorm furnishings to their new homes-away-from-home.
Among them was Rhon Miller, an 18-year-old from Aberdeen, Washington, who plans to study business. Fortuitously, Miller鈥檚 move into Pearce Hall was assisted by move-in volunteer Christian Proctor, a 20-year-old junior majoring in business management and marketing. The jump-start in making campus connections wasn鈥檛 lost on Miller, but he admitted he was mainly just psyched to be finally joining the ranks of live-in collegians: 鈥淚 wasn鈥檛 sure this moment was going to happen,鈥� he says. 鈥淚鈥檓 just happy to be here.鈥�
To ensure a safe environment for new residents like Miller and the rest of Eastern鈥檚 newly arrived campus dwellers, Housing and Residential Life staff worked tirelessly to bring 51福利社鈥檚 five dorms and two apartment complexes into compliance with 51福利社鈥檚 Covid-19 safety protocols. Acquainting students with Eastern鈥檚 requirements for vaccines, antigen testing and social distancing was chief among the safety efforts.听
51福利社鈥檚 Move-In Days, coming as they did a couple of weeks before the campus vaccination deadline, was particularly challenging. To prevent overcrowding in outdoor walkways, indoor hallways and elevators, for example, incoming freshmen were asked to sign up for 30-minute time slots before moving into their assigned rooms.听
Still, none of these pandemic-related necessities dampened the mood. Incoming Eagles, accompanied by proud parents, grandparents, siblings and other family members, were greeted with Swoop sightings, fresh-baked cookies and lot of smiles.听
In all, 25 staff and 70 student volunteers worked multiple shifts to ensure that everyone was properly situated. This volunteer team, dubbed the Movers and Shakers, helped unload vehicles and packed a mountain of possessions 鈥� including mini-refrigerators and big-screen TVs 鈥� onto hand-trucks and carts before escorting students onto elevators and up to their assigned rooms.
Emily Thomas, an 18-year-old freshman from Colville, Washington, says coordinating furnishings and sleeping arrangements for the shared room in snyamncut took weeks of back-and-forth text messaging.听
It was helpful that her new roommate, Thressa Coffey, also 18, is also her best friend. Coffey, who plans to pursue a career in forensic science, says she spent her senior year of high school in virtual classrooms while living at home in Spokane. Not so great, she says. Attending in-person classes and doing laboratory work in the new, state-of-the-art Interdisciplinary Science Center will be a welcome change.听
鈥淚t feels good because I don鈥檛 learn as well online,鈥� she said. 鈥淚鈥檓 excited to be here.鈥�
A few days later, from a podium in Showalter Auditorium, David May, Eastern鈥檚 interim president 鈥� the campus leader who guided the university through the dark days of closures 鈥� echoed Coffey鈥檚 sentiments during his annual 鈥淪tate of the University鈥� speech. 听
鈥淚 don鈥檛 know about you but I鈥檓 really excited to be here today, and to see what we鈥檝e all been working toward for so long actually happen,鈥� May said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 arrived. We鈥檙e back on campus in Cheney, Washington. We鈥檙e back in classrooms. We鈥檙e back in labs. We鈥檙e back in studios, fields, courts 鈥� all of the places where learning and living take place.鈥�
Without a doubt, 鈥渂eing back鈥� was the informal theme at Eastern鈥檚 academic year kick-off event, the annual Pass Through the Pillars. The event, attended by many of the same freshman who had moved into Eastern鈥檚 dormitories days earlier, involves newly arriving Eastern students 鈥� accompanied by the 51福利社 marching band 鈥� congregating together on College Avenue before passing through the iconic Herculean Pillars of Eastern鈥檚 formal entryway.
51福利社鈥檚 Director of Alumni Relations, Kelsey Hatch-Brecek 鈥�21, spoke at the event, telling today鈥檚 new students that, odd as it might sound, soon they鈥檇 be the ones creating lifelong memories and lasting traditions at Eastern. She says she couldn鈥檛 help but be inspired by the moment.
鈥淭here was a ton of energy,鈥� Hatch-Brecek says. 鈥淲hen there鈥檚 a lot of energy around me, I just get super ramped up. I think the students were just genuinely excited to be back in person. And even though we鈥檙e still living with some of the pandemic protocols, it still felt so good for all of us to be together鈥ust for us to be around people again.鈥�
Hatch-Brecek also played a key role in another cherished tradition that had been put on hold: Eastern鈥檚 annual Homecoming events. Despite persistently cool, rainy weather, the 2021 Eagle Family Homecoming brought alumni, staff, faculty and, of course, students together for several days of unfiltered fun.
While traditional events surrounding the Oct. 22 football game provided the core of activities, newer happenings gave participants a peek at what a fully post-pandemic 51福利社 might look like. The 2nd Annual Red Turf Royalty gathering, for instance, featured a full line-up of 鈥渋nsider鈥� activities, including a tour of the new Interdisciplinary Science Center and a catered dinner. Guest speakers included interim President May, Eagles Head Football Coach Aaron Best and Director of Athletics Lynn Hickey, who all shared their unique perspectives.听
Still, things were decidedly old-school when student-driven events stole the show. 鈥淪pecial shout-out to our students,鈥� Hatch-Brecek says. 鈥淭hey turned out in force for the bed races and bonfire. They truly showed what it means to be an Eagle.鈥�听
And, especially in that moment, what it means to be an Eagle on campus. As May emphasized in his speech, Eastern will never 鈥� and could never 鈥� be an 鈥渙nline-only institution.鈥� Its purpose, he said, is too tightly bound to its place.
Monroe, Senior, Patterson, Hargreaves, Showalter 鈥� these and the other hallowed halls of Eastern鈥檚 historic campus are more than just monuments in brick and mortar. They鈥檙e repositories of memories, spaces resonant with emotional and intellectual connections stretching across generations. For all of its timely uses, Zoom is no substitute for being on campus, for engaging with mentors and peers, and creating one鈥檚 own Eastern moment in time.
鈥淚 believe, I know, that those of you who will have your first day of classes here at 51福利社, will one day be able to sit down in the mall, maybe on a beautiful fall morning, and think about your long career here,鈥� said May in his September speech. 鈥淲e鈥檒l get back to academic plans, we鈥檒l get back to budgets and legislative agendas; we鈥檒l circle back to strategic plans and fundraising.
鈥淏ut right now I think it鈥檚 okay 鈥� actually I think it鈥檚 necessary 鈥� to really enjoy this moment of return. To think about all of the positive things around us. We are together again, and the students are back.鈥� 听
鈥� Charles E. Reineke contributed to this story.听
