Junior Josh Graham and sophomore Dimitri Gordienko have worked hard all semester leading a group of students to present the second showing of TEDx at Penn State Beaver April.
The two say they are disheartened with the reality of canceling the event.
“There was so much work and time and planning, 20 hours a week minimum to make this happen.” Graham said.
TEDx is just one of many planned events now cancelled or being held remotely because of the coronavirus pandemic.
“This is not the way we envisioned our semester going,” Director of Campus Relations Kristen Doerschner said.
In an effort to prevent the spread of COVID-19, Penn State canceled in-person programs and moved classes remotely to practice social distancing.
Along with TEDx, Penn State Beaver had plans for award ceremonies, public forums and expositions throughout the remaining months of the spring semester.
TEDx was a student-organized event scheduled for April 16 that gives anyone on campus the chance to share TED-like monologues.
Graham and Gordienko were both executive producers of this event.
Gordienko said he is saddened about the cancellation, but he has plans for the continuation of the event in the future despite his departure from Penn State Beaver after the semester.
The annual Undergraduate Exhibition hasn’t been canceled but has been moved to remote participation.
The exhibition, which was originally supposed to be held April 29, is now being held on Zoom. Presentations will be recorded and can be viewed online after the event.
The exhibition is an opportunity for students to submit a variety of work including research projects, photography collections and artwork from students of different majors and educational backgrounds.
Professor of Communications John Chapin is one of the committee members in charge of the event.
Chapin said he is disappointed that the event is not being held in person, but is content with the fact that students are still able to present their work on Zoom.
“I’m hoping keeping this little piece of normal is helping people out,” Chapin said.
Although students are not together physically, they have the ability to support each other electronically.
Major on-campus and third-party events originally being held on campus grounds were forced to cancel and move online.
Director of Campus Relations Kristen Doerschner said that the Student Awards dinner scheduled for March 27 was canceled. The students who were to be recognized, including Walker Award winner Josh Hetzer, a junior, and Student of the Semester Ashley Taylor, a senior, were recognized on the campus website and in social media posts.
Doerschner said the event was not moved to remote delivery because students seem stressed and another online event would likely have only added to that.
Penn State Beaver’s annual BeaverFest is also no longer taking place.
Coordinator of Residence Life and Student Engagement Romina Holder voiced her sadness in canceling the contracts in connection with the week-long festival.
BeaverFest was the largest of many events that Holder was to oversee this.
Doerschner and Holder both said that they are doing their best in providing campus community this semester by staying connected virtually.
Holder has recently created a virtual version of Stall Stories to help the campus community stay connected to activites that are happening online.