Stories of Connection: Students get creative in re-creating campus experience at home

Students who want to walk around the Roanoke College campus will soon be able to do so virtually — but they’ll still have to follow the College’s Student Conduct Code.

That’s one of the rules of RC Craft, a Survival Minecraft Java server created by students for their classmates during this period of remote learning. Many aspects of the RC Craft server remain the same as in real life. Students are expected to respect one another, and trolling will not be tolerated.

As the group of students organizing the server planned it out, Noah Crist ‘23 came up with an idea. 

“We all thought it was an amazing idea,” said Senn Boswell ‘21, who serves as SGA president.

Boswell and another moderator on the RC Craft server, said Crist began by outlining the campus buildings on the ground in their server. The designers then began building the Administration Building.

Bit by bit, the students — Boswell, Crist, and fellow students Phillip Bagshaw, Eric Lee, Ryan Tilgner and Sonny Williams — found time to work on the server between classwork. After they finished the outside of the Administration Building, they moved on to the Bell Tower, some landscaping around campus and walkways around the Administration Building. Boswell said Miller Hall is up next, but it’s been a lower priority than final exams.

Michael Santoroski, director of Web and Software Development Services, is serving as the staff administrator for the endeavor. He said he was thrilled to hear Boswell and others were interested in building the server.

“I knew we were in a stressful time, and making something that was fun and simple would be an excellent way for our student body to continue to create shared experiences,” Santoroski said. “I was excited about how fast Senn was able to get up and running and have followed the progress as it has grown from nothing to a staple for many students.”

Boswell said more than 50 people have logged onto the server, all from the campus community.

“The original goal of the server was to build an online community for students to interact with their peers during our time away from campus, and I think we’ve done just that,” Boswell said. “Our users are engaged not only with the game but with each other.”

Any member of the College community can go to https://clubhub.roanoke.edu/club/RCMC to get sign-up information.

Photo contests and more

The Office of Student Activities and its student managers, the Student Government Association and the Campus Activities Board are also collaborating to recreate some aspects of College life for students while they are at home.

CAB has hosted bingo night, a movie night, a student screenplay contest and more. One of the most popular events was a March Madness-style bracket challenge where students voted for the best foods offered in Commons. Chef’s Burger Bar edged out Chipotle Burrito Bar in the championship matchup.

Currently, there is an Instagram contest where students are competing to do their best re-creation of dining hall foods. Students can enter the contest by going to CAB’s Instagram page, @roanokecab. Those looking to get a leg up on learning how Chef Matt prepares his dishes can watch Chef Matt’s videos on the Roanoke College Instagram page or on the College’s Vimeo page.

CAB has also sponsored a photo contest asking students to send pictures of their pets showing Maroons spirit. Joe Boucher, director of the campus center and student activities, said CAB is considering a variety of photo contests, including Best Study Space, Best Study Outfit and Coping with Corona.