Emma Reiner
Senior Features Writer
Scot Spirit Day usually just occurs in the fall semester, but this year, Wooster decided to organize the event again this spring on Sunday, Jan. 31. This semester’s event was similar to last semester’s, but took place over a 90 minute period instead of being spread out into a three-day event. Additionally, fewer student organizations participated compared to last fall. Just like last semester, this event had mixed reviews.
When comparing this semester’s Scot Spirit Day to last fall’s, Riley Smith ‘22, the secretary of Wooster Forensics, said that “there wasn’t a ton to prepare because it’s very similar to last semester’s event.” She also highlighted how the advertising was the same. Laney Zuver ‘21, the co-general manager of Woo 91, had similar sentiments, saying that the group did not do anything different to prepare for this semester’s Scot Spirit Day.
The virtual format has made it more difficult to spread the word about different student organizations. Tim Cotter ‘22, the President of Merry Kuween of Skots, said that his a cappella group faced challenges in advertising. “Our group’s name […] doesn’t necessarily indicate that we do a cappella, which makes Scot Spirit Day more difficult virtually, because we can’t advertise ourselves during the event in the same way,” he said. To mitigate this problem, the organization tried something new this semester, and sent out an email to all new tenors and bases in the Wooster Chorus, hoping to gain interest.
The virtual format also impacted attendance. Smith and Cotter noted that no one showed up to their events. Zuver said that only one person showed up, and that it was someone with whom she had spoken previously, which made the event feel less meaningful. However, she was glad that Scot Spirit Day happened again because it is “better to have more opportunities to get involved than just skip it and assume everybody knows what’s going on.”
Even though the attendance was low, others mentioned how Scot Spirit Day was still somewhat of a success. Mahi Lal ‘22, and Mekdes Shiferaw ‘23, the co-President and vice-President of Wooster Women & Gender Minorities in Economics (WWGME), respectively, commented on the event. Lal said that even though they had just one student show, “it was so nice to have a longer, meaningful conversation with them about imposter syndrome, and feeling uncomfortable in economics classes because there are very few they can identify with.” Shiferaw agreed with this, saying that the organization got what they “hoped for from Scot Spirit Day. This is what we wanted for WWGME—to create a safe space and peer mentoring opportunities, in a field where imposter syndrome arises often.”
While this event was different from years past, it is also important to note that it was still able to happen in the midst of a pandemic, not once, but twice. Making student organizations meet virtually has been difficult, but possible. When asked about the future of events like Scot Spirit Day, Zuver said she is hopeful that “students will understand what it means to be virtually involved.” While this semester’s Scot Spirit Day had its difficulties, it still helped spread the word about the many different student organizations we have on campus, in a safe way.