OCU students got to participate in a virtual petting zoo to show off their pets.
Student Activities Council hosted the event at 1 p.m. April 7 to bring some lighthearted fun to students.
Allison Hudson, assistant director of student engagement, said the SAC exec team’s main goal is to create on-campus community building events for the student body, which they plan during their weekly meetings.
“After we went virtual, we got together to continue to connect as a committee and find ways where we can still bring the campus together,” Hudson said. “These projects are still being brainstormed and developed, but Mackenzie VanZee hopped right in and said she wanted to plan a virtual petting zoo.”
Mackenzie VanZee, religion junior and director for SAC, said she had originally planned an in-person petting zoo in April.
“That was in the works, but then of course due to safety reasons, we can’t go back to campus,” VanZee said. “So, the exec team has been brainstorming a lot of different ideas that we can do to still have fun things for students to do to increase morale, because we’re needing that right now.”
VanZee said the format for a replacement petting zoo came to her when she was looking for ways that students were coping with the virus on social media.
“I was seeing a lot of pictures on Instagram of people showing off pictures of their pets and stuff, and I was like ‘Why don’t we put a zoom meeting together, where people can introduce their pets to others on campus?’ That’s something that really brightens people’s day, to see other people’s animals and how much they love those animals.”
VanZee said students didn’t even need to have a pet themselves to enjoy the event.
“I just think it’s a fun opportunity to maybe meet some different people on campus,” VanZee said. “Everyone is so different, but the common thing that binds them together is love for their pets.”
Hudson said she introduced her plant, in absence of a pet.
“Her name is Quarantina the Succulent. Students can share whatever they want. Maybe it’s a stuffed animal, or anything,” Hudson said.
VanZee said she brought her pet rat, named Billie, and also hoped to see a variety of pets at the event.
“We mostly had dogs and cats at the event. It was fun seeing Dr. Ayre’s menagerie,” VanZee said.
Hudson said the petting zoo is not the end of SAC’s programming for the semester, and they have a slew of different events to continue engaging students.
“We’re working on some trivia nights, Netflix parties, some leadership Webinar series that are happening and just other ways to engage with social media,” Hudson said. “Just to give thanks and spread some positivity around campus that way.”
VanZee said the council is planning on hosting an event every week.
“We’ve been talking about a lot of different things, like a funniest home videos challenge, a quarantine playlist, maybe some other Zoom-related events. There’s some games we can play over zoom that we can think about,” VanZee said. “This is such a stressful time for everyone, so we’re trying to come up with events where people can tune in and have fun and not have to think about anything.”
VanZee said SAC is always looking for suggestions on how the council can continue to help the campus through this time.
“We do listen to students. We’re only like, five people, so when the student body has ideas, we love to discuss it,” VanZee said. “Right now, the DMs are the best way to contact us.”
VanZee said SAC’s upcoming TikTok competitions and Disney trivia events can be found on their Instagram, @okcusac.
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