Ovation Celebration Cancelled as COVID-19 Cancels the Semester

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Ovation is one of the biggest events of the Spring semester. However, plans were dampened when COVID-19 came about forcing the event and the entire spring semester to be canceled.
This event was a time when students and the BW community could come together and celebrate the hard work that students put behind their projects. The event has had a lasting effect on the BW community.
“I think it is an exciting time for students and an excellent way to celebrate their accomplishments and show off the excellent work that so many students are doing. It’s important to set aside time in our school year to highlight the work of our student scholars,” says Dr. Susan Oldrieve, Associate Dean of Humanities.
Students who are worried about how their projects will be graded shouldn’t be, Provost Steven Stahl says, “The grading of the projects will be decided between the students and their professors for the projects.”
As for Ovation being implemented some way on an online format, “We are working with individual faculty members whose students can complete their projects, and have the time with the commitment to move to remote instruction, to have perhaps a wikiovation,” Stahl says. “We’ll find ways for students to share their work with the BW community.  We aren’t going to do anything officially because many students cannot complete projects remotely.”
Senior Exercise Science major Jillian Roberts was working on a research project studying analyzing factors impacting athletes’ participation in Division III athletics. “This project was to fulfill the requirements for my major. I was disappointed to find out Ovation had been canceled, as I imagine many others were as well. It feels like the final piece of the puzzle is missing with Ovation being canceled. Although I may not be sharing my project, I am still grateful for the experience I had and working with Dr. Dyer as she guided me through the research project.”
Moving on from this, the BW community will bring their work to full force when the fall semester meets again. Next Spring seems like a long time away, but Oldrieve brings us hope and encouragement about next year’s event saying, “Certainly this year is an anomaly—the pandemic won’t last forever, and by next year we’ll be back to food trucks on seminary street, ice cream in the classroom buildings, music, dance, creative work and adding new knowledge to make the world a better place to be.”