On March 17, 2020, UVA suspended all classes on Grounds until at least May 15. The decision did not come easily, but it was necessary for the safety of students and faculty. COVID-19 has been spreading at an unprecedented rate forcing people from around the globe to self-isolate to help lower the curve of contagion. With that being said, our new-founded chapter had to find other means of continuing to grow both personally and professionally with being away from one another in quarantine.
In the beginning, we were fearful of the ability to continue to build bonds without being able to see each other every day around Grounds. But thanks to modern technology, we had several platforms to stay connected: Zoom, Slack, GroupMe, Snapchat, Discord, etc. Just because we weren’t together in Charlottesville, did not mean that it would stop our progress as a chapter.
To continue further advance our chapter, we are still having weekly Exec, Committee, and Chapter meetings. On top of these weekly meetings, SigEp HQ has been doing an amazing job with creating weekly opportunities for our continuous development through a series of ‘webinars,’ live video presentations about mental health, personal branding, how to stay fit at home, personal finances and investing, and more.
Several brothers have stepped up and have been creating activates for brothers to stay close and in touch. Chaplin, Nano Masters, is posting weekly workouts for brothers to stay active in a friendly competition with brothers. VP of Programming, Ben Stoffel, is releasing several recipes a week. VP of Communications, Andy Nguyen, has been posting Brother Features to our Instagram. We’re having weekly game nights on Discord to relax and get to know one another better along and using Snapchat to update each other what’s going on in our lives.
Our chapter is not being slowed down by COVID-19. Our brothers have taken advantage of the current situation and hit the ground running. As SigEps, we have adapted and we will come out on top. When we come back to Grounds either that be in the upcoming fall or next spring, we will be stronger than we left off. COVID-19 will not stop us. We will triumph. We are SigEp Brothers.