The Student Leadership and Activities Board [SLAB] has been a prominent organization on campus since its start one year ago during the COVID-19 pandemic. SLAB is a combination of the University of Indianapolis Student Government, Campus Programming Board and the Residence Hall Association Board. The last time The Reflector spoke with SLAB, the previous Assistant Director of Student Activities Bridget Webster said one of the big purposes of moving these organizations together was to help students know exactly where to go for any issue they had. In addition, the organization’s MyUIndy page states that the SLAB council aims to create opportunities to assist in campus programming, make experiences such as leadership development, offer mentorship and help build experiences in someone’s area of interest. However, one of the organization’s main goals was to reach out to the freshmen class coming in at the peak of COVID-19.
After a year, SLAB has stayed true to those goals. Student Body Director and junior communication and psychology major Bhumibol Shakya said SLAB was able to stay consistent with their initiative goals in regard to the previous freshmen class who had many things taken away from them due to COVID-19.
“… A lot of freshmen did show up [during Welcome Week]. They came to the ground, they stayed in Key Stadium, they watched the whole movie, no one was leaving early,” Shakya said. “Also, the second movie I did, I think it was ‘A Quiet Place Part Two.’ I saw a lot of freshmen there, too.”
According to Shakya, he believes that the events coordinated by SLAB did have an impact on the attendees’ freshman experience, given that COVID-19 has taken away a lot of these moments over the course of the pandemic.
“The movie was a good idea but then the second point I would like to talk about is, I think it was the Silent Disco, which was like a new initiative,” Shakya said. “When we did that event, we saw a lot of freshmen come in. When we did our Silent Disco, it was not just like people dancing . . . We also did a ‘Just Dance’ thing with the music ‘Pump It’ and people, they were just doing it, watching the video and it was a hit.”
Shakya said there are opportunities for future engagement from SLAB with a plan for the entire semester in the works with the initiative to make sure the campus experience doesn’t go away.
“People can follow us on our social media and we have fliers put out, like we have the fliers for September, which usually tells you what is happening in September . . . ,” Shakya said. “It is going to come out [in] October and November . . . I would say, do check our social media to know more about the events and, if possible, come to our SLAB office to know about how you can get more engaged with the things we have going on.”
In regards to upcoming events from SLAB, Social Justice and Engagement Chair Kamerinn Jones said there are many upcoming events for Hispanic Heritage Month as well as beginning preparations for Black History Month.
“We’re starting to take event ideas for Black History Month so if they have any event—any ideas for that, they can reach out and we will get back to them,” Jones said.
A few upcoming events from SLAB, according to their Instagram page, include a movie night every Saturday in the months of September, October and November. This is called the Hound Hangout series and the next event will be a showing of the movie “F9” on October 2nd at UIndy Hall.
SLAB’s office is located in Schwitzer room 105 near the exit doors of the dining hall. If students have any questions or interest in being a part of SLAB, the organization can be contacted by their Twitter or Instagram @uindyslab or via email at slab@uindy.edu.
