Every spring, after a winter of being stuck inside, students return to campus looking forward to nice weather and longer days. With the new term comes beloved annual events that take advantage of the enjoyable weather, such as Spring Fling and Formal. Spring Fling provides a fun way for dorms to come together and compete against other dorms in activities that range from bean bag races to tug-of-war;  Spring Formal, a dance that gives a similar experience to Winter Formal minus the proposals, is held under a tent on the Circle.

Students may be curious about if and how these events will work this year, given the Covid-19 restrictions we face. Mr. LeRoy, the faculty head of the SAC, says that he is “not completely sure” how the events will turn out at the current moment. He emphasizes that the likelihood of any in-person social events happening highly depend on how the first few weeks of test results go for us as a community. 

As students get further into the term, they can expect a more concrete answer on whether these events will be held. This uncertainty is the biggest hindrance to the SAC’s ability to organize events this year. Usually by this point, the SAC would have been able to map out all the major events of the spring.  However, due to the reliance on weekly testing results,  this level of organization has not been possible. 

While Mr. LeRoy does not want to choose between Spring Fling and Formal, he expects that Spring Fling is more likely to happen, as the logistics of Formal do not work as well in the age of Covid-19. This is mainly due to the high density of people under tents and that dances are not allowed.

Despite all the setbacks, the SAC is still determined to keep the spring interesting. Mr. LeRoy and the SAC hope to take advantage of being able to go outside on Saturdays, where the risk of spread is lower, similar to what we did in the fall — with spikeball, volleyball, badminton, etc. They also hope to hold outdoor open-mics and bring back GESL (Groton Evening Softball League). GESL allows students to create their own softball teams with friends and compete against others in a full season, culminating in playoffs and a finals match-up. Like a trial-period to see if we can eventually hold some of the bigger events, we can expect smaller events in the first few weeks that we get back. If we all continue to do our part as a community, then we may be able to experience all of our favorite activities this spring.