Academic activities, extracurriculars continue online at Fresno Pacific

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- Fresno Pacific University is finding ways to continue its academic activities online.

Senior Erika Enomoto said she wasn't prepared for this past semester to be her last one on campus.

"Not having that last band concert, or that last handbell concert, or those last moments has been hard," said Enomoto. "Realizing that last semester all those things were my last and I didn't really cherish them the way I would have."

However, she's making the most of it. One example is working with her fellow classmates to take Earth Day online.

Instead of setting up booths on campus as planned, they made a website with information and education.

"It was very different than what we would have usually done," added Enomoto. "I think even though we couldn't meet in person, having the virtual set up shows other people we care and it's a great way to teach people and make them aware of all these issues."

That's not all the campus is doing. When the honor society's national convention was canceled, students put their presentations online and other professors followed suit, moving final presentations to zoom and the web.

"This took a lot of pre-planning work that we hadn't been anticipating right away," said Asst. Professor of Biblical Studies Dr. Melanie Howard.

They said it's had some benefits.

"For some of our students they had family members across the country or they had grandparents that may have not been able to travel to an in-person event, and suddenly those are members that are able to participate in this really important occasion," added Howard.

The university was even able to launch a new academic honor society this semester and induct 11 students, all through Zoom.