On January 23rd, Ohio Northern’s Student Senate held an “Iceless Ice Skating” event in the parking lot behind Heterick Memorial Library. “Synthetic Ice” was placed on the pavement with railings and chairs, plus racks of ice skates students could use once they were sanitized.
The event was run by the members of Student Senate, who worked hard to maintain cleanliness and social distancing for the duration of the event. In total, over 100 students attended.
Peyton Burden, Freshman Physics Major and Representative for Founder’s Hall, said that the event seemed to bring joy to those who attended. Burden even skated with friends socially distant, and it was a “wonderful change of pace” from what COVID-19 has brought to college students the past year.
Current Student Senate Vice President, Senior History, Political Science, Public Relations and Religion majors Emma Prusha, said that the administration wanted to “support the idea of getting students outside,” in a Covid safe environment. The goal was to kick off the semester in a fun way.
Covid-19 compliance was done through wearing masks, sanitizing rental skates and pens with disinfectant between uses, not having too many people skating at once, and having Thomas Frost and either Nate or Emma present at all times.
Student Senate President, Fifth year Pharmacy Major Nate Oblizajek, said that the best part about the event was seeing “fellow Polar Bears come together in community with one another,” in a safe way. Oblizajek hopes the event would be put on again by Student Senate in the future, and that there is a lot of confidence in the ability of newly hired Student Affairs Coordinator, Thomas Frost, to bring other fun ideas to the community in the future.