18 STUDENT LIFE Freshman Orientation looked different in fall 2020 for more than just returning students. Since March of 2020, Dean of the University College Kevin Kehl and Assistant Director of irst Year Experience Caitlin Denton had been a part of the task force to figure out how they were going to make Bison Bound and Stampede happen. “Our first thing we knew for sure, coming into the job, was that Bison Bound would look different,” junior Co-Director Everett Kirkman said. “It ended up being all online, so we prepared different videos and then filmed them all.” In the midst of planning with Bison Bound and Stampede Co-Director Ethan Brazell, Kirkman and the COVID-19 task force were unsure of what to plan for since circumstances were continually changing. “There were several challenges early on about feeling comfortable with making a final decision about what it was going to look like,” Kehl said. “The final version did not happen until the day of the printing of the schedule.” When Stampede began at the end of the summer and freshmen moved in, the co-directors were prepared to use their newly designed system in which all of the Energy Groups, which went on to become their Bible classes, were split into four color groups to ensure social distancing. “One of the evening activities, Disney Channel Games, involved the color groups competing with one another in shifts,” Denton said. “It was such a clever idea, considering that they were in color groups,” The second event, Lawnapalooza, was an outdoor event at Harding Park where students ate dinner and listened to live music performed by Harding cohorts. “It was very chill and just a really good and easy way to end the week,” Denton said. Through the stress of making new plans to ensure for protection against COVID-19, Kirkman and Brazell emphasized to the Energy Group Leaders and freshmen the importance of embracing the reality of the situation rather than talking about how hard and different it was. story by Selby Bailey Yates First Year Experience redesigns freshman orientation to comply with regulations. STAMPEDE I M P A C T makes an AMPEDE
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