Due to COVID-19, William Jewell College has altered its plans to welcome incoming first-year students to campus. Among the most significant changes to programming, the annual Cardinal Day and Summer Fling events will be virtual in 2020. 

Cardinal Days will take place June 5, 6 and 20. Cardinal Day is a day at which incoming students can learn more about Jewell and are advised about their fall semester courses. Dr. Bradley Chance, professor emeritus and director of advising explained how this year the process will be altered. The events this year will last from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. via Zoom. As of writing, students can still register for June 20 Cardinal Day with this link.

The morning will host sessions from Student Life, the business office, financial aid office, etc. Rather than split students into groups to rotate between the meetings, there will be plenary sessions for each meeting that will take place with all students.

Advising will take place in the afternoon. Students will be divided into groups and placed in Zoom waiting rooms as they wait for one-on-one advising meetings.

In the waiting rooms, students will be able to interact with one another. When a student’s advising meeting is set to begin, a member of admissions staff will invite the student to join a private breakout room with an advisor – effectively escorting them to their advisors.

Advisors will be able to conduct meetings approximately similar to the normal format. As needed, advisors will be able to share screens and show students lists of courses through MyJewell. The primary aims of Cardinal Day have not changed, Chance said. Students will still be able to confirm or update their majors, create a schedule and register for courses. Advisors will be taught how to screenshot schedules, so students will be emailed their fall schedules after the meeting. 

After advising meetings, students will be encouraged to return to the waiting rooms to interact with their peers before the day officially ends. 

Although Chance is apprehensive about the many changes to the program and the potential technical difficulties, he is hopeful the days will be effective and relatively painless. He reiterated the amount of planning going into the event and his desire to maintain as many aspects of traditional Cardinal Days as possible.

“We’re trying to replicate as much as possible the way it was on the ground,” Chance said. “[…] [But it’s] one of those things where you can practice it all you want, but until you get on the field and play the game, you never really know.”

Admissions staff, some advisors and other key participants in Cardinal Day have already participated in smaller group training and planning sessions. In the coming days, all advisors will attend training sessions in order to prepare for the new format. Most of their training will consist of getting used to the technology to be used – including via Zoom, Moodle, Etrieve and other resources. 

Advisors will be taught how to use Zoom breakout rooms and how they should expect the day to proceed. They will have to adapt to waiting in Zoom rooms, advising students without pre-printed block schedules and learning how to communicate with other advisors via texting or Slack if they have questions about an advising meeting. 

Summer Fling will take place June 24 as a two-hour virtual event. Incoming students will have the opportunity to meet their peers, become familiar with campus and find a roommate. Because the typical 26-hour overnight event could not take place, Summer Fling will continue through the summer with different virtual events and social media activity on Facebook and Instagram. 

The June 24 event will include a virtual tour of campus; an introduction to the Jewell Orientation Instagram and Class of 2024 Facebook page; introduction to Greek Life, athletics and various student organizations; Tucker Leadership Lab interactive sessions; time to find a roommate; and a description of further summer programming.

As 2020 Summer Fling will not include an overnight portion or trips into Kansas City, the orientation event will be conducted at no charge to incoming students. All student registrants will receive Summer Fling t-shirts and goodie bags. Incoming students can register on the New Cardinals Moodle page, admitted student website or using this form by June 10. 

Katie Parrott, senior biochemistry major and 2020 orientation director, explained the goals of Summer Fling and its new format. 

“Our Summer Fling and Orientation programs are designed to give First Year students an opportunity to meet their peers, upper-class students, residence life, and Student Life staff. Specifically, Summer Fling is intended to give students an opportunity to find a roommate for the academic year, while also introducing them to the social expectations of our campus. However, due to the effects of COVID-19, we are unable to hold gatherings with a large number of people out of respect for our most vulnerable populations,” said Parrott. 

Mentor groups and other orientation activities will be altered in order to account for social distancing guidelines. Rather than having incoming student mentor groups of approximately 15 people – with two mentors and about 13 incoming students, each group will have a maximum of 10 people – either with eight incoming students and two mentors or nine incoming students and one mentor. 

Mary Dickerson, director of the first-year experience, described the role of first-year mentors in this time. 

“The mentors will be more engaged virtually throughout the summer with our new Summer Fling schedule. We still have the expectation the mentors will go through at least the first semester in providing guidance and support to their mentees so this hasn’t changed,” said Dickerson.

As the College has announced their intention to open in August, an in-person first-year orientation is set to happen in the days before classes start. At the moment, the orientation team is preparing for contingencies including having a fully on-campus orientation, a hybrid in-person and virtual orientation or a fully virtual orientation. 

Parrott expressed her enthusiasm to help transition incoming students to Jewell despite the trying circumstances of COVID-19.

“Even though this is not the most ideal way to meet our [first-year] students, my team and I are remaining optimistic. In my opinion, there’s nothing that works better than shifting our attitudes from gloom to bloom through gratitude! I am thoroughly convinced that there is good in every situation, no matter how awful it may appear. More than anything, we are grateful to be given the opportunity to virtually connect with the class of 2024 in June! Looking ahead, we are hopeful to be back on the Hill, in community, come August in order to implement our Orientation Program the traditional Cardinal way!” Parrott said.

“We remain optimistic and will encourage students to embrace the Jewell community. We are hopeful that we will start in the fall and finish our semester on-campus,” Dickerson concluded.

“I had grown up in a traditional Christian household, but by the time I got to college, I was a bit apathetic about religion, though hardly hostile. During my junior year, I took a survey of the Bible course from a professor, Dr. Bernard Boyd, who had a reputation for teaching good courses. Frankly, I took it primarily to get a humanities requirement out of the way. But the Bible came alive for me. I felt like he was teaching me how to read the Bible like a grown up. By the end of that semester I had decided to major in religion, though I wasn’t sure what I would do professionally,” said Chance.

After graduating, Chance pursued a master of divinity from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, in Wake Forest, N.C. in 1975 because “that seemed like the next logical step.” It was during that time that his interest in teaching blossomed.  

“I loved what I was studying there and came to respect immensely my professors. The idea of spending my life learning about and teaching others about a responsible and critical way to read the Bible was most appealing to me,” said Chance.

After earning his master’s, Chance pursued a doctorate at Duke University. He was also accepted to Emory University and chose Duke primarily for its proximity to his hometown. He taught as an adjunct instructor of the New Testament at Southeastern Seminary for two years while attending Duke. He was reassured then that teaching would be his most fulfilling vocation.

Chance came to Jewell in 1982 as an instructor of religion and was promoted to assistant professor upon earning his doctorate in 1984. During his time at Jewell, he taught courses in science and religion, including both biological and cognitive science, and the important role of religion in our social and political lives. He regards his Jewell experience as rewarding and fulfilling.

“I enjoyed the opportunity of teaching students and watching them develop and grow and move on with their own lives, both personally and professionally. I’ve also enjoyed teaching the children of former students. That’s really cool. I have also enjoyed the company of many wonderful colleagues. Professionally, I have really enjoyed teaching at a liberal arts college, which has encouraged and even required me to expand my areas of teaching interest well beyond the Bible, which is about all I knew when I came here. Given our emphasis on critical thinking, which we’ve been doing since I arrived and even before it literally became our registered trademark, and liberal learning, I was free and encouraged to broaden my own horizons. And so I’ve had the opportunity and privilege to explore the importance of religion and the Bible as it applies to significant issues of our day,” said Chance.

Although Chance is scheduled to retire next semester, he will not be in full retirement mode. He is scheduled to teach a course next semester titled  “Reading the Bible Then and Now” and will still be the director of academic advising. He is also looking forward to having extra free time.

“Maybe I’ll renew some of my contemplative practices and even flirt a bit with some very simple yoga. There’s a nice app for that on my Fire Stick, so who knows? For sure, I’m looking forward to reading books that have been on my list for a while, but haven’t found the time to read. I’m looking forward to staying in touch with the Jewell community, especially the students, and have a lot more breathing room. Win/win,” said Chance.

Photos by Mykala Crews.

“Brown Hall was erected in 1896 but burned to the ground in 1928,” said Stufflebean.

“The original building was the PLC of recreation facilities in its day. I’ve read varying dates, but supposedly a young girl named Mona drowned in the swimming pool of Brown Hall. The College currently uses the pool for dry storage. It’s alleged that Mona now haunts pool storage and other areas of Brown Hall,” he said.

Naturally, I was surprised that any of the stories had any basis in fact. Stufflebean then continued to tell me a story that chilled my bones.

“While working in the pool storage area, a current campus employee heard music that they believed to be coming from a clock radio, sitting on a desk. The employee went to turn the clock radio off and discovered it was not plugged in and the battery compartment was empty. The shaken employee dropped the radio and quickly fled the pool storage. To this day, this employee will not go back into the pool storage area of Brown Hall.” said Stufflebean.

Needless to say, I am far too terrified to examine the area myself.

Campus resident Brett Stone, junior, was able to share information regarding the haunted nature of Jewell Hall. “One night, around one or two a.m., I was in Jewell Hall writing an essay. I briefly left the classroom for a trip to the restroom. When I came back, there were dozens of flies covering the room,” said Stone.

By this time, I could see the horror of the event in Stone’s eyes as he relived the terrifying night.

“I felt spooked because they seemed to come out of nowhere in an extremely short span of time. In the end, I couldn’t decide if it was a ghost coming to take my soul or a Jewell Hall infestation problem,” said Stone.

Regardless of the source of Stone’s mysterious encounter, it is clear that Jewell is no safe place for the coming All Hallows’ Eve.

My search for truth inevitably led me to Dr. Bradley Chance, which quickly turned from a quest for reassurance to the confirmation of my worst nightmares.

“Not too many years ago, a number of students in my ‘Religion in the Modern Age’ class proposed, albeit in a satirical manner, that I was the ghost of Jewell Hall. I panicked, for I didn’t know if they were simply trying to be creative and just happened to hit upon this theme for comedic effect or if they really knew something and were letting me know that they knew,” said Chance.

At this point I began to feel goose bumps rise across my arms as I stared into the cold eyes of the man in front of me.

“I’m weary of it all, so, as I approach retirement – well, at least as this incarnation of my ghost approaches retirement – I’m ready to confess,” said Chance.

The instinctive desire to flee for my life was nearly uncontrollable at this point.

“I am the ghost of Jewell Hall, at least when I am not inhabiting this body. But, truly, I mean no one any harm. Have a good All-Saints Eve,” he said.

Dr. Chance, who was previously a symbol of security at Jewell, immediately evaporated before my eyes into a cloud of bats. I ran for my life until I reached the security of my dorm room. I dare not venture out again.

Photos by Chandler Eaton and Elizabeth Messina