Otter community staying connected during shelter-at-home order

By Sophia Huang McKenzie

Published April 2, 2020

California State University, Monterey Bay moved to limited campus operations on March 17 to comply with government orders to slow the spread of COVID-19. While forced to be apart, the Otter community has created a “virtual raft” allowing us to stay connected during shelter at home.

The concept relates to the behavior of sea otters in the wild. They form “rafts” by linking themselves together with their paws and kelp to remain connected and protected while floating in the water.

University Communications launched a social media campaign inviting the CSUMB community to post photos and videos of themselves working and playing from home tagged with “#VirtualRaft.” To see the posts, check CSUMB’s social media accounts on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

Video Messages

President Eduardo M. Ochoa, the Department of Psychology and Otter Athletics released video messages in the days just after the campus closure to express sympathy, offer advice and encourage students and the CSUMB community.

“This pandemic really has, I think, driven home the fact that we are all an interconnected human family, and I think it’s also bringing out the best in many of us. I’m very proud and humbled and heartened by how the Otter community has responded to this unprecedented situation,” Ochoa said in his video message.

“Know that I am with you. We will get through this together. I know that the Otter community will continue to respond as it has so far and, we will come out of this eventually. We will go back, we will be stronger.”

CSUMB’s psychology department video was one of the first to reach out to students and address the campus closures in the California State University (CSU) system. The CSU shared the video on its official social media platforms.

The video featured several faculty and staff speaking from their homes in clips edited together to say, in part: “We wanted to make you a little video, to let you know that we’re thinking about you. We know this isn’t what you signed up for when you signed up for this semester. We weren’t expecting it either, but we’ll get through it together!”

The four-minute message also informed students that campus resources such as academic advising and counseling with the Personal Growth & Counseling Center were still available online and by phone.

Otter Athletics coaches offered a video message to team members and the entire Otter community.

“I want to encourage all of you, and all of us, to continue to lead with love, support and compassion for everyone, especially your teammates and coaches and your faculty at CSUMB,” Athletics Director Kirby Garry said.

“Over the next however many weeks or months that this takes to get through, we’re in it together. (We should) continue to work with and for each other, and again, position ourselves for success. Now, every day and into the future.”

College of Business faculty and staff also posted a video message to students on March 27 prior to the beginning of Spring Break.

Virtual Programming

The Otter Student Union (OSU) is leading the way in launching a variety of online and virtual activities and events including a poetry slam, live concerts, trivia nights and a lecture about pandemics.

The lecture featured Dr. Karina Levina, author of the book, “Pandemics & the Media.” She spoke in a videoconference format that attracted the most participants of any OSU virtual event so far with about 60 in attendance.

OSU scrapped all the programs they originally had planned for the rest of the year, because it required in-person attendance.

“We had to pivot to thinking about different ways we can engage folks online with scheduled programs like our trivia night, to doing more impromptu things that would appeal to different audiences,” said Michelle Czarnecki, OSU assistant director of programs and communication.

In addition to thinking creatively, OSU staff acted quickly to provide resources to connect not only students, but the entire CSUMB community. They are also meeting with other CSUMB departments including Health and Wellness Services to partner on virtual programming.

“We know this is an incredibly stressful time. We want to provide that opportunity for people to continue to get together and engage on both fun topics as well as more serious topics related to what’s going on in the world around them, which is consistent with our mission,” OSU Director Chelsea Buffington said.

Information about OSU’s virtual programming — in addition to recommendations from OSU staff for entertainment and other resources available online — can be found on the OSU website and social media.