With the transition to online classes, Student Activities decided to keep the UTRGV community engaged with themed week online events in April. They are wrapping up a month of success by celebrating the state of Texas.
“Texas Week is our last April-themed week,” said Elianey Moya, program coordinator for Student Activities. “We wanted to create a themed week that would engage students, and make them feel proud and accomplished … and still engaged with the university even though we are in a different, transitional [and] virtual world.”
Moya said there will be a “Design Texas” contest. Student Activities will post a flyer on its @utrgvstudentactivities Instagram with the outline of Texas for students to screenshot it and create their own drawing or digital art of what their ideal Texas looks like.
Submissions will be accepted until noon Wednesday. The design with the most likes by noon Thursday will win a prize as the fan favorite.
Moya said Student Activities will host an event on Monday, but was working on the details for it as of publication of this article.
On Tuesday, there will be an Instagram Live Session to talk about the census.
The 2020 Census counts every person living in the United States and five U.S. territories, according to its website. The count is mandated by the Constitution and conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau.
“Student Activities has a group of students who are focusing on the census,” Moya said.
The Instagram Live Session will be hosted by Michael White, a biology senior, and Lourdes Perez, a computer science freshman. Both are Student Activities employees.
“The census info session is to bring in more students, college students, [and] people of all ages, to understand the huge impact the census application has,” White said.
He said he realized half of the U.S. population already submitted the census. He is pushing the community to get 100 percent of the population to do it.
The session will start at noon in the @utrgvstudentactivities Instagram account. It will last between 30 minutes to an hour.
White said he will talk about important information regarding the impact of the census in the community. There will also be activities such as questions, polls, games and a chance to win a prize.
He also said students should be aware of politics and the impact it has on students as a community.
Asked why it is important the census session is taking place during Texas Week, White replied, “So we can show off, like, Texas does this, these are the results, this is the data. We’re pulling in bigger numbers than other states. Were more politically involved, more students … [and] community involved.”
Wednesday, Campus Activities Board will host a Scavenger Hunt.
“Students have to look for things through our social media … Instagram, VLink, Facebook and any other … media we may have,” said Nathalia Uresti, a graphic design senior and Campus Activities Board chair for pop culture.
She also said toward the end of the hunt, students will have an opportunity to share the information gathered and enter a raffle.
“We have seen scavenger hunts happen before on campus,” Uresti said. “We wanted to be able to recreate that kind of feeling of trying to look for things, like, hunt down that information … as we do know that is something fun.”
She said the event will start in the morning and finish around the end of the day.
Moya said there will be no events on Thursday or Friday due to Study Days. Student Activities wants students to focus on preparing for their finals.
She shared a message from Student Activities to the UTRGV community.
“We are extremely proud of the students getting through this transition … into the virtual world,” Moya said. “We wish them luck on finals. We hope to keep them still engaged throughout the summer.”
She also said they look forward to being on campus with students soon.
For more information on the events, follow @utrgvstudentactivities Instagram account.
