By Mary Stoudt
Selecting an animal, stuffing it, and naming it has been a popular tradition at Ferrum College for years. Typically students build their bears during homecoming festivities; however, due to the COVID the 2020-21 school year’s bear building was pushed back to Valentine’s Day.
(Ducks in a custom Ferrum T-shirt, which is one of the popular animals at this year's bear building event. Photo credit: Mary Stoudt.)
This year students who wanted to build their bear were asked to register online first through Presence. Presence is a new software Ferrum adopts to promote student organizations and their events.
Animals available for this year's event included ducks, foxes, snow leopards, eagles, tigers, frogs, bull dogs, camo bears, cheetahs, and penguins. Each animal came with a heart to put inside and a custom Ferrum College t-shirt that celebrated Valentine’s Day.
(Animals available for this year's event. Photo courtesy of Ferrum College.)
While the COVID continues to impact numerous campus events, the bear building could not be stopped and students were able to enjoy a sense of normalcy.
Junior Grace Howell was excited when she heard bear building was coming back to campus.
“I really enjoyed getting to build my bear, it definitely brightened my day,” Howell said.
Activities for the remainder of the year can be found on the Presence website. To find more information about upcoming events, check your Ferrum College email for instructions on how to access Presence.