Spring term is usually the busiest time for the University of Oregon’s Hui O Hawaii club.
This is when the group organizes its annual Lu’au. Not only a big night for fundraising, the Lu’au provides an opportunity to celebrate culture and showcase the group’s efforts.
Club president and last year’s Lu’au coordinator Madeline Nguyen-Acosta knows how much work goes into it, saying dancers began practicing for their performances back in winter term and club members spent hours making costumes, in addition to regular club meeting times set aside for planning.
“I’m very proud of it,” said Nguyen-Acosta. “It’s a very good bonding opportunity for our members.”
Last year was the group’s 44th annual Lu’au. The 45th was scheduled for May 16th at the McArthur Court. Then COVID-19 hit.
Many UO clubs and organizations have been forced to adapt their regular operations to a closed campus environment. While many are trying to stay connected through online meetings and other virtual activities, some have had to cancel big spring plans altogether.
This year’s Lu’au cancellation has been particularly disappointing for those nearing the end of their college careers.
“It was definitely heartbreaking, especially for our Lu’au coordinator this year who was a senior,” said club vice president Jordeene Degraw. “All of our seniors are really crushed because they don’t get to go on stage.”
The UO Hawaii club offers Hawaiian students a home-away-from-home, according to Nguyen-Acosta, and offers all students opportunities to learn about Hawaiian culture.
She said the club was doing what it could to keep in touch with its members (many of whom are back in Hawaii) through online meetings. According to Degraw, meetings are now being held at 6:00 p.m Hawaii Standard Time — 9:00 p.m Eugene time — for those members.
“We like the bonds that we share,” said Degraw. “We miss each other.”
Other groups have also had to cancel spring events, like the UO Accessible Clothing initiative.
This student group aims to provide adaptive clothing for people with disabilities and educate students about disability and accessibility issues.
ACI co-president and founder Emma Ly said the group’s planned partnership with Go Baby Go, an adaptive toy program that modifies ride-on cars, was put on hold.
Ly had hoped the ACI could have learned more about adapting toys in general, as well as worked with community partners like the Hilyard Center to create and donate adaptive toys.
“I think it just made the most sense,” said Ly about postponing the group’s activities. “Our project is just so hands-on, that it just needed to happen.”
The ACI received a $1,000 service learning grant from the Holden Center last year. The grant was supposed to only last a year, but Ly said the center has extended their funding to the fall in light of the circumstances.
Despite the postponement of the club’s plans, Ly said she’s still looking forward to activities in the fall.
The International Student Association has had to abandon its big in-person events as well.
“Spring term is usually our busiest and best term,” said ISA president Chiara Cheng. The biggest event of the year — iNight, a piece of ISA’s iWeek where domestic and international students can gather for food and performances at the EMU Ballroom — had been cancelled.
Cheng, however, said the ISA is currently brainstorming how to make a virtual iNight and iWeek work for students. “We still want to show that even though there is a global pandemic, we’re still trying our best to keep ISA relevant,” she said.
The ISA has been conducting virtual coffee hours every Friday at 4:00 p.m to substitute for the weekly in-person coffee hour sessions that occurred before campus closed.
“Attendance is one fourth of what we used to have,” said Cheng. But she also said she was grateful for the number of people coming.
UO Hawaii club had its 44th annual Lu'au at McArthur Court in spring of last year. (Courtesy of Madeline Nguyen-Acosta)