Maya McFadden Photo
Albertus Magnus College frosh decided a painted chair representing their class wouldn’t be complete without green arms decorated with yellow and red crown-shaped coronaviruses.
Five first-years added that all-too-timely detail as they painted their official Class of 2024 chair. The activity was one of the school’s many traditions hosted during Albertus Magnus College’s Founders Week celebration this past week — with a twist tailored to a pandemic that has defined, and limited, interactions that can define much of a student’s college experience.
The chair, which also highlights the class’s theme of community, was painted by first-year students Zaporia Satterfield, Bliss Weston, Cassandra Bute, Ariana Malauasi, and Emily Perez. The team won first place in the school’s class chair competition.
The students dedicated their free time while not in classes or doing class work to meet up and paint their class chair.
During their first meet-up, the group crafted a list of ideas for what to paint on the chair, including representations of Black Lives Matter, Covid-19, peace, community, and LGBTQ+ pride.
Last Wednesday the group gathered for its last time to add finishing touches to the chair and complete it with a sealant for a glossy finish.
Some group members said they often paint as a hobby. Others said that they joined in on the chair-painting tradition because there was “nothing else to do” in a semester where so much of campus life has gone online or been called off.
Their final day of painting began around 6 p.m. Wednesday as the sun started setting and the outdoor tent filled with the sound of crickets chirping. In conversation the young women discussed where the chairs would be placed after being judged for the competition by all undergraduate students at the school. Ideas ranged from the campus center to an outdoor patio. The group said they were ultimately unsure where it would go.
The chair’s decorations also included a variety of international flags, the school’s logo, and symbols of recycling and cancer awareness.
The words “love,” “forgiveness,” “acceptance,” “diversity,” and “strength” lined the back of the chair.
Malauasi and Satterfield commute to the school while the others live on campus. Despite the difference in living situations, the group agreed that campus life is off to a slow start this semester.
Since the start of their first semester, they’ve gone to school events to try to meet new people. Each member of the group said they have struggled due to a lack of attendance at the events they’ve showed up at so far.
In the summer, Satterfield had planned to live on campus. Soon after submitting her on-campus housing application, she had a talk with her parents who asked that she stay home and commute to school for the family’s safety.
“I wanted to be on campus to get more out of the school, but now I’m just here once or twice a week,” she said.
The group also talked about online classes and agreed they aren’t as focused as they would be if all their classes were in-person. They laughed about occasionally being distracted during online classes by their professors or classmates background interruptions.
Even with the slow start to college fun, the girls said they are hopeful for the rest of the semester.
“We’re just trying to make the best out of our situation,” said Bute. “Our theme is community for a reason.”
This story was produced with financial support from Solutions Journalism Network.
Previous stories:
• Students Play The Covid Heavy
• 2 Campuses, Week 1: Zoom vs. Zip
• Albertus Continues Convocation Tradition, With A Twist
• Yalies Begin 14-Day Dorm Quarantines
• Future Mechanics Return To Class In Person
• Prof, Students Forge “Hybrid” Routine
What a lovely project for these young people to participate in. If colleges are having difficulty with the lack of socializing opportunities due to COVID precautions, I would suggest they organize and participate in food drives for their neighborhoods, and join meals on wheels for shut ins, volunteer for food banks and soup kitchens, along with PPE supply giveaways, neighborhood litter cleanups, volunteer as poll workers for the election, volunteer as tutors and assistants tor online/remote learning K-12 students, create a neighborhood beautification crew of volunteers to help the elderly and disabled and poor with raking leaves, weeding yards, planting bulbs tor spring flowers, building raised garden beds in yards for growing food next spring, shoveling snow, painting houses, repairing fences, and other things for people who can't do those things themselves in the neighborhoods surrounding the schools. If the young healthy college age people were working together in teams with masks on a socially distanced, they could have a lot of fun as a group and also the satisfaction of helping people out during this terrible time in our history, while strengthening their school's relationship with their neighborhood community.