The CIU Hurri-cation of 2018

The CIU Hurri-cation of 2018

Open basketball in the Moore Fitness Center.
"Florence Welcome Party" at CIU featured free donuts

Junior Hannah Wegren enjoys a free donut at the "Florence Welcome Party" (Photos by Caleb Pringle, CIU student photographer)

The musings of student writers Naomi Balk and Joseph Knight during Hurricane Florence

I was in the Library when we found out that classes were cancelled for the rest of the week. The governor had requested that schools close with the approach of Hurricane Florence. Everyone was whispering the same thing, “Classes are canceled.” News of the break spread quickly. On Tuesday morning most classes continued. But after that the campus took on a different feel.

There was a surprisingly cheery atmosphere despite the approaching storm — that only dropped a few inches of rain over Columbia.

In preparation, a freshman girl went to Dollar General down the road on Monticello where she found there was a mini CIU gathering. People were stocking up on snacks. It was funny because the food in their hands was all junk food. On campus I passed a friend who asked if I was ready for the hurricane and if I had food or snacks all stocked up.

Some students started to blame “Flo” for the bad things that happened and circulated memes about Florence. It’s the little things that kept us smiling. 

A few guys from East 1 Residence Hall and Rez Life Director Ethan Young organized a Super Smash Bros tournament in the Pine View Apartments Community Center. It was one of the biggest “events” that happened while we were off – there were about 30 students that came for the tournament. Jonathan Rabon was the eventual winner. There was a whole lot of shouting, cheering and excitement going on in that room!

Many students took time to watch movies, play games, spend time with each other, and some actually did homework. A few dared to venture out to Waffle House.

Meanwhile, the women’s soccer team kept everyone informed with “urgent” hurricane updates.

And then there was the “Florence Welcome Party.” Students and some staff gathered to socialize and eat free donuts and drink 50 percent off coffee from the Grace Coffee shop in the Student Center. The people gathered to socialize and pass the time. It was cool to see how people did not rush off but lingered to spend time with each other.

Of course there were always people playing table tennis and shooting pool. There was a Corn Hole tournament in the hallway of a guy’s dorm. The gym was open for basketball. 

A lot of the churches that the students attend cancelled their services on Sunday, so the students who did not “evacuate” organized a simple church service in the lobby of Memorial Residence Hall.   

By Sunday night junior Laura Camplejohn had this to say: “I appreciated the break from normal life, but the storm was quite underwhelming. Now I’m ready to go back to usual routine.”

Community life is a hallmark of CIU. Want to join us? Excitement is building on the CIU campus with a dramatic increase in enrollment and on-campus renovations. Information on enrollment is available here or call (800) 777-2227, ext. 5024.