As with so many other things right now, Meredith’s Celebrating Student Achievement Day has been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. However, this beloved tradition, which was originally scheduled for April 14, has not been cancelled – only postponed and moved online. An April 3 message from Dr. Carolina Perez-Heydrich, Director of Undergraduate Research, announced that students will still have the opportunity to “present” at this online CSA Day celebration by videoing their presentations or performances and sending them to the Undergraduate Research Program. According to Dr. Perez-Heydrich, this content will be uploaded “onto a YouTube channel made specifically for the conference, which will be made public on Friday, April 24.”
Another email from President Allen on April 3 clarified that even if projects intended for CSA Day were unable to be completed due to the unprecedented COVID-19 situation, they will still be able to be presented with whatever students were able to get done before the pandemic. Dr. Perez-Heydrich emphasized that the Undergraduate Research Program will be helping students along the way, including hosting Zoom meetings with participants in order to clarify the process and answer any questions. Additionally, in the effort to make this CSA Day as inclusive and encouraging as possible, even students who did not submit an abstract for CSA Day by the original deadline were invited to submit one by a new deadline. Along with the presentations being reworked, recipients of Academic and Leadership Awards and Student Achievement in Leadership Awards will also be honored. A slideshow of the recipients for both award ceremonies will be available on April 24 on the new CSA Day YouTube page.
Although this CSA Day will look quite different from any previous ones, the Meredith spirit and its students’ success will no doubt continue to shine this year. Offices all around Meredith have been busy ensuring that students’ hard work will not go to waste, even if they cannot be on campus.
By Olivia Slack, Online Editor