Student-led initiatives are reinvigorating life on campus and improving students’ social lives. The Golden Goose Pub opened in the former faculty lounge under Hynson Lounge, giving students, faculty, and staff a new place to socialize. A mural transformed Hodson Hall’s Goose Nest into a beautiful and welcoming oasis for playing ping-pong, watching sports, shooting pool, or just hanging out. Reenergized clubs hold trivia and bingo nights, and the esports club competes against other colleges.

Campus life needed this reinvention and revival because the COVID-19 pandemic had detoured the personal and academic journeys of many current Washington students. While their academic journeys got back on track swiftly, it wasn’t quite the same for their social lives.

The most noticeable change after the return to campus and in-person classes was that although students were once again walking along Cater Walk, eating in the dining hall, playing sports, and studying in the library, the previously lively campus felt eerily quiet.

This was of particular concern to Assistant Dean for Student Engagement and Success Tricia Biles, whose responsibilities include ensuring the student experience is a safe, supportive, and fun one. 

“There was a hesitation to come back into group settings in the beginning,” Biles said, “and also a lack of know-how.”

Before the pandemic, there was so much going on that clubs and organizations had to compete for space and times to hold their events on campus. Immediately post pandemic, events were sporadic and often poorly attended.

Student clubs and organizations, important entryways into engaging student life, were starting as if from scratch. Many of the senior and experienced student leaders had graduated during the shutdown, and their organizational knowledge and social networks were lost with them. In addition, a class and a half of new students had started at Washington virtually and hadn’t had the opportunity to join a club or organization. As inexperienced students took the reins without the institutional knowledge of how to run, manage, or fund an organization, clubs struggled.

According to Biles, the College had lost the continuity and group leadership typically passed from one class to another.

“The thing that was most noticeable was the loss of student leadership knowledge, event coordination in particular,” Biles said. “It fell very much to [Director of Student Engagement] Antoine [Jordan ’12] to reorient all of our student leaders and organizations on how to plan an event, how to do the catering, the room reservation, and all of those pieces.”

Before the pandemic, there was so much going on that clubs and organizations had to compete for space and times to hold their events on campus. Immediately post pandemic, events were sporadic and often poorly attended. Even large organizations like the Student Events Board (SEB) had a difficult and tenuous return, suffering major executive turnovers—one of which left the club at half its operating size. Slowly, with the help and support of Student Engagement staff and the tireless efforts of the students themselves, clubs began to emerge from their slumber, membership grew, and executive boards found their footing.

SEB now has stable leadership with a director and multiple event coordinators to share the workload and avoid the chaos of the previous executive structures. It has three to four well-attended events each month, including bingos, open mics, and movie and game nights.

“We’ve been hosting [a variety of events] to see what events students actually do come to,” SEB event coordinator Tiyaba Jamil ’27 said. “Of course, things like bingo are a fan favorite, and everyone comes out, but there are also other events that different groups of people will take advantage of.”

SEB has also increased participation by collaborating with other clubs. One of their most successful events was a partnership with the Esports and Gaming Club, a group that has grown by over 40 members in the last year alone.

“Before, our bingos would get a lot of engagement, but this year, all of our events have been getting a lot more,” SEB director Vani Chauhan ’25 said. “There’s been more freshmen engagement than upperclassmen.”

Like Chauhan, Jamil noticed that SEB’s events seem to appeal more to first-year students. She believes that first-years are likely searching for opportunities on campus and that the accessibility of SEB events helps them meet and make friends.

“The freshmen are really taking advantage of the community. I think if you see your own peers at events, hosting and helping out with events, you’re more likely to go,” Jamil said. “That the freshmen are already so dedicated to helping out with these community events, I think it’s going to keep a steady engagement of participants.”

Biles remembers walking through campus this semester and seeing three events happening simultaneously and thinking, “Oh my goodness, this is such an active campus again.” 

“It’s very common to now have concurrent events across campus,” Biles said. “Folks are competing for spaces to hold their activities, and we’re seeing larger numbers of people attending.”

Similarly to SEB and other campus organizations, the Esports Club spiked in popularity after overwhelming interest from the Class of 2028. The organization’s outreach during new student orientation brought their membership up to roughly 70 members, which was where the club was prior to COVID-19.

Jevon Smalls ’25, Esports Club president said that the group struggled post-quarantine to rediscover the passion and participation it once had when the club regularly competed against other schools in Overwatch and League of Legends tournaments. Now, the club competes in the Eastern College Athletic Conference with a five-member Super Smash Brothers team. Smalls says that with the increased interest they saw in the fall, there is the potential to increase to two competitive teams in the spring semester.

Biles explains that as a natural consequence of the college cycle, junior and senior participation in club events tends to dip. Over time, students find their friend groups and are more likely to do informal things with them rather than rely on clubs and organizations for their socializing. The first-years, because they haven’t established these friend groups, require broader social pools to pull from, and they gravitate toward clubs and organized events. When SEB plans a Friday night event, they assume that the turnout will be mostly first-years.

As a senior, Chauhan has seen this trend reflected in her own engagement with the community, as well as that of others in her year. While upperclassmen continue to attend the most popular SEB events like bingo nights, Shoremal, and Birthday Ball, their attendance dips for other, smaller activities.

“To be honest, I think they find different ways, a lot of times off campus, to do their own things,” Chauhan said.

Jamil believes that upperclassmen have a more “well-rounded view of campus”
and prefer to seek out more off-campus events. As a sophomore, she has struggled to find enough to do outside of the club activities she enjoyed as a first-year.

“I’m definitely bored on the weekends,” Jamil said. “I feel like if there isn’t bingo on Saturday night, which we have once a month, then there’s nothing to do.”

Even as the re-emergence of clubs and organizations has filled the fun vacuum for many, especially first-years, the lack of an off-campus culture was exacerbated when several student-friendly Chestertown venues closed before the pandemic and haven’t reopened or been replaced.

The officers for the Class of 2026 have made a concerted effort to bridge the gap between Chestertown and the College. Many of their events bring together the larger community—not just students. Their annual Halloween Bash at the Hodson Boathouse, which features a live rock band, games, and a kids’ costume contest, receives a healthy turnout from both students and Chestertown locals. Their holiday Gingerbread Jamboree encourages faculty and staff to bring their kids for a gingerbread house competition.

The officers for the Class of 2026 have made a concerted effort to bridge the gap between Chestertown and the College. Many of their events bring together the larger community—not just students.

Cara Olivarez ’26, class president, points to successful College-organized events like Shoremal and Birthday Ball, as well as the Jake Owen concert that Washington held last spring. She would like the College and alumni to continue to support and create events like these.

“I think it would be really nice to have someplace where you can engage with other students, and hang out, and have fun,” Chauhan said. 

Zach Tipton ’27, the secretary of academics for the Student Government Association (SGA), has made that happen. His campaign to improve students’ social options began at the 2024 Presidential Leadership Summit, where rising student leaders convened to discuss campus issues and come up with viable solutions. The ’24 summit led to multiple initiatives, such as the Goose Nest mural, the Honk event calendar, and, most recently, Tipton’s pet project, The Golden Goose campus bar.

“We decided that bringing back a bar on campus would really improve social life,” Tipton said. 

While senior staff and the SGA were already discussing the possibility of a campus bar, Tipton’s group at the leadership summit took the initiative and organized weekly Shoreline Socials, where alcohol and food were served as a pilot program to test the viability and popularity of a College pub. With Student Engagement’s support and funding, students, faculty, and staff gathered in the Faculty Lounge every Friday to drink and chat.

Tipton organized activities for most of these socials, including trivia and karaoke, which drew large turnouts. Because of its success, various campus organizations contacted him to collaborate on activities. EROS (Encouraging Respect of Sexualities) brought pumpkins for a Halloween painting night, and a social in September was relocated to the sand volleyball court for a collaboration with the Beach Tennis Club.

According to Tipton, the concept of a venue that served alcohol yet was open to all students received “overwhelming support” from the President’s Leadership Council (PLC), a group of invested and engaged alumni and parents. At their October meeting, they discussed Shoreline Socials and how they might make a campus pub a reality. 

“I’m sure that almost all the alumni would say that they have fond memories of good times at Washington College,” Tipton said, “and today’s students want to have the same experience they had.”

After the meeting, Brooke Frank ’92, PLC chair, enlisted architects and worked closely with College leadership to advance the project, discussing potential locations as well as working with professors and students on a business plan. The planning for a dedicated home for the pub is ongoing. In the meantime, members of the PLC and Board of Visitors and Governors, as well as a friend of the College, were so enthusiastic about the idea they donated the funds to remodel the Faculty Lounge, fit it out with a bar, tables, and chairs, and open The Golden Goose pub at this temporary location.

Biles says it’s gratifying for students to see tangible outcomes from the leadership summits and know that their voices are being heard and the College will act on their suggestions. Another example of a concrete improvement that came out of the first leadership summit was a proposal from Megan Somers ’24 and Morgan Carlson ’25 to paint a mural in the Goose Nest to make the social space more welcoming for students. The administration approved and hired local artist Kayti Didriksen to oversee the project. With assistance from various student organizations and members of the community, Didriksen has transformed the space into a history of Maryland flora, from lichen-covered rocks to the deciduous forests of today. 

“I think that there was a great deal of buy-in and optimism [at the leadership summits], because students felt that they were being authentically heard,” Biles said. “The president and cabinet members came to listen to them, and then we’ve been able to implement some of their ideas.”

Students remain invested in improving their social experience, taking the initiative to share their concerns and determine solutions. Clubs and organizations continue to grow in membership and attendance, and events that disappeared during COVID-19 continue to return under new leadership.

“I would say we get by, and do our best with what we have to have fun and enjoy time with each other,” Tipton said.

If the pub is an example of his and his peers’ determination to make immediate and concrete improvements to the student experience, don’t be surprised if there are significant changes on campus and in the town before he graduates in 2027.