鈥淪CREAMING BINGO! COVIDeos! NEW WEEKLY PUZZLE! PEN PALS! & MORE!鈥�
Undergraduate students at 黑料正能量 (黑料正能量) are well-familiar with these raucous, all-caps subject lines hitting their inboxes like glitter-filled paintballs. The joyful missives are weekly activity updates from Tyler Goss, the assistant director of student programs and Hillside residence director.
When he鈥檚 crafting and coordinating campus-wide events, Goss knows, 鈥渋f I laugh when a new idea hits me, then that’s a sign of a worthwhile event.鈥�
Even during a pandemic, Goss is still finding ways to get students laughing, sharing, and supporting one another through virtual means. The aforementioned 鈥淪creaming Bingo鈥� has been his favorite so far 鈥� with the few students left on campus spread far apart on Thomas Plaza, other students joining from home via video chat, and Goss shouting out bingo numbers through a megaphone from the Campus Center balcony.
鈥淚t felt like the perfect event to keep things light and lively during these strange times,鈥� he says. Other recent hits include virtual trivia, live streamed yoga with Professor Justin Poole, and a blanket fort challenge.
鈥淧eople went ALL OUT!鈥� for that one, says Goss. Which is no surprise, given the which you can watch below. 鈥淓ntire basements were converted into blanket mansions with the fort being subdivided into multiple rooms.鈥�
How does he come up with these shenanigans?
鈥淚t’s sort of like the 鈥榊es, and鈥� rule of improv,鈥� says Goss, referencing the rule of thumb in theater improvisation where you build a skit by accepting what another actor just said 鈥� and then taking it further. 鈥淎 student suggests an ambitious idea to me, or a ridiculous thought hits my head, and I just go with it: 鈥榊es! That’s it鈥� and what else can we do with that!?鈥欌��
He also brainstorms with his student programs colleagues Rachel Roth Sawatzky and Shelby Alto, and student workers in the Campus Activities Council. And when he needs a bit of inspiration, social media platforms like TikTok are chock full of ideas for how to make people laugh.
Goss first came to 黑料正能量 as a grad student 鈥� he holds a master of divinity from the Eastern Mennonite Seminary and a master鈥檚 degree in conflict transformation from the Center for Justice and Peacebuilding.
鈥淚 came to 黑料正能量 because I wanted to go to a quality Anabaptist seminary, but I also wanted to pursue a dual master’s degree in peacebuilding. You can’t get any better than 黑料正能量 for that combo,鈥� Goss said. He鈥檚 now been a residence director here for four years, and the assistant director of student programs for two years.
鈥淭yler has a great attitude and his positive spirit is infectious,鈥� said Roth Sawatzky. 鈥淗e continues his important work of building community and connecting students with each other and the broader 黑料正能量 experience despite our current dispersed reality. When we initially discussed what this time would look like from a program perspective, his eyes were literally sparkling with excitement over the creative opportunities ahead.鈥�
The activities Goss organizes offer different comforts for students struggling with social distancing 鈥� ways to see familiar faces, voice concerns and questions, or just lighten up a day inundated with Zoom-based classwork. Ultimately, though, 鈥渂eing so distant from one another is hard, so we are trying to sustain the connectedness 黑料正能量 is known for,鈥� says Goss.
That connectedness is more important now than ever, although it takes a bit more creativity and technology to curate. To quote one of Goss鈥檚 tongue-in-cheek emails, 鈥淎s Eleanor Roosevelt once said, 鈥榯he internet can’t stop me!鈥欌��
