ETK TO HOST LARGE EVENT WITH SAFETY TOP OF MIND

SILVIA OAKLAND, TRUMPET EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Entertainment ToKnight (ETK) will host their annual large event, after working through COVID-19 guidelines from Wartburg College and following the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).  

Rachel Green, second-year journalism and communication major and ETK president, said the event was supposed to take place in the Fall Term of 2020 but was delayed until the Winter Term 2021 to allow for careful planning. 

“All concerts were canceled, so we took those [guidelines] very seriously and decided to push the date back to the spring of 2021, in order to more properly plan a safe event for all students to enjoy,” Green said. “We understand people are looking for entertainment and people are really seeking these, and we want to be able to provide those events. But along with that, safety is always our utmost priority.” 

“ETK always wants to provide enjoyable, safe events for students; this is a major part of their college experience,” Samantha Pfab, Accelerated Ministry Program Associate and ETK advisor, said. “We want to do all that we can to still do this in the form of a large event that is reimagined in ways that uphold safety as the top priority.” 

Through the months of planning that began nearly a year ago, Green said she has high hopes the large event will take place before the end of the academic year. Green said the dates and locations have been changing recently due to finding a location that will be large enough to host students and provide distance. Green added that the executive team of ETK have been examining off-campus locations that can hold many students.  

Green and Arinda Barthel, second-year music therapy major and ETK vice president, began working in their new roles in December after members of the previous executive team had graduated. Barthel and Green said their excitement for planning and executing the large event while also ensuring campus safety is a priority.  

“Rachel and I together have really had to overcome a lot of challenges, because we stepped into a new role during COVID when there’s already these guidelines and regulations, which makes student programming and campus programming, much harder than it was before,” Barthel said. “I hope we’re more successful, and more creative in the future because we’ll have had the opportunity and challenge of this year.” 

ETK has already hosted events featuring in-person entertainers and a live and socially distanced audience, such as the hypnotist on February 9 that was held in Neumann Auditorium. 

“I’m just excited for something that the students can look forward to that is exciting and different than what they’ve had all year because, because this year has been so tough., I feel like students are really stuck or don’t have much to look forward to,” Barthel said. “The fact that we can offer something really fun and safe for the students to attend that is different than what they’ve been doing all year is exciting for me.”