On March 23, 2020, Pleasant sent an email to students and parents involved with international programs saying IP made the decision to cancel all undergraduate study abroad programs for summer 2020. The decision affected HUF, HUG, Art & Design International, Summer Undergraduate Research in Florence, College of Business in London, and Scotland for pre-student teachers. Spring Break Missions In the spring 2020 semester, Harding announced the cancellation of all University-sponsored international spring break mission trips due to the COVID-19 outbreak. Dr. Andrew Baker, assistant professor of Bible and ministry, said the decision to cancel the trips stemmed from the ending of the Harding University in Florence (HUF) study abroad program. The virus continued to spread, and the administration decided it was unsafe to continue traveling outside of the U.S. Baker said his concerns focused on the students' travels in and out of the U.S. "My concerns were with students leaving the country and not being able to come back and not being able to get out of the countries they were in," Baker said. The mission teams received an email notifying them of a meeting the week before their trips. With prior knowledge of the spread of the viru and the cancellation of the tudy abroad trips, many mission trip participants assumed the trips would be canceled. Sophomore Katelyn Fehr, who planned to be a leader of a mission trip to Ensenada, Mexico, said the cancellation was disappointing. "I think what -- at least for ourselves -- what we were most looking forward to was getting to go back and see those kids that we've formed the relationships with," Fehr said. Fehr's team's objective was to visit the City of Children to put on a Vacation Bible School and minister to children. They also planned to help clean and take care of whatever the local people needed. Harding leadership worked to ensure the students were up to date on every decision made whether it impacted their trip directly or not, but the information was not as easy to handle for many students who had prepared to participate in their mission. To help the efforts of the students, spring break mission leaders worked with specific locations to ensure there were not any financial liabilities. The group that was supposed to travel to Jamaica sent materials such as songbooks and Bibles to the church they were working with so that the mission did not go unserved. Though the trips were canceled, there was a trip led by Kyle Thompson, assistant director for the Office of Community Connection, to help Nashville, Tennessee, recover from the tornado damage that occurred in early March. The trip provided many students who did not have plans for spring break an opportunity to serve. Spring Sing Spring Sing was a time-honored tradition on Harding's campus. It was an annual opportunity for socialclubs and friends of social clubs to unite together under friendly competition to raise money for charity. The excitement for the show came to a halt when it was announced the event would be postponed until spring 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The announcement came March 19, 2020, accompanied by the announcement that Harding would switch to online classes for the remainder of the semester. Eight club shows, two jazz band features and nine production numbers by the hosts, hostesses and ensemble were in the final stages of rehearsals and preparations for the show when the announcement was made. The Spring Sing directors, Dr. Steven Frye and Cindee Stockstill, adapted the theme "Once Upon a Time" to "Twice Upon a Time" for the 2021 event. According to Frye, seniors were offered the opportunity to direct and perform in their club shows the next year if their schedules allowed; they will also be credited and recognized for their work in their respective shows, regardless of whether or not they would be physically present at Spring Sing in 2021. Frye also said that though the cancellation was disappointing, he believed the 2021 show would be an important show. "It reminds me of Spring Sing 2002, the semester after 9/11," Frye said. "It was a cathartic moment for the campus and community. We seek healing in celebration." Spring Sing provided many students with an opportunity t_o tap into creative outlets and meet people from different social clubs on campus. Senior Kally Byrd, a director for women's social clubs Ju Go Ju and Ko Jo Kai and men's social club Sub T-16 show, said it was a chance to get involved on campus and to have fun while raising money for charity. She was involved in Spring Sing every year she was a student at Harding, and she said the announcement was bittersweet. "It's a weird mix ofemotions," Byrd said. "I'm a senior and graduating in the fall, so it's really weird. I've been a director for two years, and it's something that brings me so much happiness through the relationships we make through this really cool process." (Continued on the next page) closing 313
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