BYUSA clubs started back up in-person after a semester and a half of being remote or canceled because of the pandemic.
With clubs being approved to be in-person starting March 2, club presidents and BYUSA club members have had to come up with plans and guidelines in order to keep students safe.
BYUSA Clubs team lead Michael Barrera said there was a lot of excitement when in-person clubs first got approved.
“Clubs as a BYUSA area got permission for Clubs Night by putting together a detailed and in-depth plan on how we were going to protect students from COVID,” he said. Individual clubs go through a process to get their own approvals from BYUSA to meet in person, he added.
The BYUSA team in charge of clubs knows the essential role clubs play on campus and that they are a fantastic way for students to meet and create lasting friendships, Barrera said. “As a BYUSA Clubs team we are just so excited to get people meeting safely and carefully.”
Laugh Out Loud Improv club president Logan Sowards said he is excited to have clubs back in person. “With improv, we definitely feed off of each other’s energy and the energy of the people watching us. You don’t feel that same sort of energy over Zoom.”
Sowards said comedic timing — something essential for a club such as improv — is a struggle via online methods because of internet lagging. He said it was hard for people to want to attend meetings during the height of the pandemic because people were already spending a lot of time on video chat services.
Sowards said he feels clubs meeting in-person is a huge improvement. “For me, there is a little bit of a disconnect that occurs when I only see someone through a screen. Being in person allows for a greater sense of connection.”
Laugh Out Loud Improv meets on Thursdays from 7 to 9 p.m. in Room 214 of the Crabtree Technology Building. Students can visit the club’s Instagram page for more information.
BYU K-pop club president Alex Bollinger said although it has been difficult to head a campus club in the wake of COVID-19, BYUSA “has been very accommodating in helping however much they can.”
Meeting face-to-face will help BYU clubs find a sense of community, he said. “I believe reviving K-pop club to be in-person will again connect K-pop lovers with each other across Provo. It is so much easier to connect when we can dance together even if it is five feet apart.”
The K-pop club meets every other Tuesday night at 7 p.m. in the Wilkinson Student Center ballroom. Students can visit the club’s Instagram account for more information.
