Hillsdale’s Student Activities Board has canceled Carnival in the Arb. The event, which was designed to replace the Garden Party, was formally canceled Tuesday due to safety and health concerns related to the coronavirus pandemic.
“It was a team decision to cancel the event on Friday,” said Zane Mabry ’20, director of Student Activities. “We didn’t have any pressure to cancel, but given the current climate on campus, it seemed like the team thought it would be best for us to not throw a large on-campus event.”
Junior Luciya Katcher, SAB’s big event leader, stressed the combined partnership of the activities board and the college administration.
“We made the decision in tandem with the administration,” Katcher said. “Our purpose for the Student Activities Board is always student-centered. We love being in touch with the students and being able to serve campus in a way that encourages social development, but in a fun and safe way. And so, in light of COVID-19, of course safety is at the front of our minds.”
Although SAB adjusted its original plan to make the event as safe as possible, the team ultimately decided it was best to cancel because of increased hesitancy among the student body, Mabry said.
“It took a lot of discussion, and it definitely wasn’t an easy decision or a quick decision,” he said. “We had been working with the administration to make sure that the event would be good and safe, so it was a very sad decision to cancel the event on Friday.”
Another concern was keeping the SAB team members healthy.
“We’re being good stewards of our SAB budget and of our time,” Katcher said. “We’re students too, so we want to keep our safety as a team.”
Katcher said she hopes some features of the carnival event can still be used in the future.
“I think we’ll have some of those really great elements from this event in future events,” Katcher said. “We want to make sure we would serve campus in the way they want to be served.”
The rest of SAB’s schedule will proceed as planned, with its next event, Fall Fest, scheduled for Oct. 16.
Mabry said SAB is working hard to host events this semester, even if the events are somewhat smaller in size.
“We’re by no means giving up on this semester,” Mabry said. “We’re so excited to host all the events that we can, and we’re still planning to move ahead as best we can.”
