Student Life is striving to bring back pre-pandemic energy since the decline of COVID-19.

During the Coronavirus , or COVID-19, lockdowns in March of 2020, many faculty and students were having to transfer their coursework to online platforms, leading campus to lack a sense of community and connectedness. The classic college student lifestyle of going to class, spending their free time on campus, and making friends was a thing of the past.

Many long time on-campus employees and non-traditional students that have returned to Chemeketa often recall much more student activity buzzing on campus. “Students used to be a lot more involved in outside-of-class activities,” said English professor Tammy Jabin.

“[Now] they come to class and then go home without making any real connections along the way,” said Jabin, “this makes it easy for students to drift off because they don’t feel any real attachment to people here.”

Some Chemeketa employees are trying to reverse the effects of the pandemic’s isolation. Joel Gisbert, Chemeketa’s civic engagement coordinator, recalled the first year back on campus, trying his best to revive face-to-face student activity. 

“It just took a while,” said Gisbert, “[Post-pandemic], it was a challenge to get students back into activities. I think the reason behind that, we had so many remote classes that students just weren’t here. Right after the pandemic, it was a slow year, for sure. But what I’m seeing now is an explosion of students wanting to belong.”

With these large numbers of students returning to campus, many wonder where they’re supposed to go to find that pre-pandemic norm of face-to-face connection and involvement in outside-of-class activities. The Associated Students of Chemeketa, or ASC, has been essential in rebuilding the student community and relationships outside the classroom.

“We do a pizza kickoff,” said Gisbert, “it’s campus wide and [offers] free pizza for students during lunch time. [We] put on some music, giveaways, swag, resources, event calendars, —it’s a nice, warm welcome. We’re offering student job positions, clubs or things for them to get connected…It’s an opportunity for them to network [and] kickback. That allows students to say, ‘Hey, there’s a little bit of spirit here back at Chemeketa.’ ”

“Students, they’re the tool to connection,” he said. “The more students are networking with each other, whether it’s creating study groups or finding clubs—that’s the source; they’re going to be successful versus a student who just comes here, doesn’t make any friends and leaves.”