![Student Clara Clifford in Carroll hat]()
Student Clara Clifford shows off her “We Made It!” hat celebrating a successful semester.
Hundreds of Carroll University students were surprised this week when they were presented warm, cozy caps accompanied by a card declaring: “We Made It!”
The gifts celebrated a successful semester of in-person classes. Carroll officials held extensive planning sessions for months to help ensure a positive, safe campus experience for students before classes began Aug 24.
President Cindy Gnadinger and Student Senate President Clara Clifford handed out the goodies to happy students.
“The reaction of students today was just priceless – they were surprised and thrilled, and so grateful we had made it, and we let them know it was because of their willingness to follow protocols that we did,” Gnadinger said. “There was lot of joy that we have come this far. It’s really heartwarming to hear just how excited, relieved and proud they were of themselves and their Carroll community.”
Clifford said Theresa Barry, vice president of student affairs, Jake Eisch, director of student conduct, and the Student Senate wanted to reward students for helping to make the year a success.
“It was refreshing to do something to make their day, even a little bit. They worked very hard to help us find a way to make this year work,” Eisch said.
“We wanted to do three things: acknowledge the sacrifices they had to make, express gratitude for staying safe and following guidelines and celebrate that we made it to end of the semester,” Clifford said. “It’s something we should be proud of, especially being here in Wisconsin, where colleges around us have had to take more extreme measures than we had to.”
As students head home for the holidays, she says she hopes they continue their great work. “I’m hoping students remain cognizant of the impact they could have on communities at home and are safe,” she said. “I hope students utilize this time to recharge and prepare for spring semester. It’s going to be colder, and congregating outside is not something we’ll be able to do for a long time. When we come back in the spring, we want to make it through the colder months together, remain on campus and have a great on-campus graduation in spring. That’s the goal.
“As Pioneers, we just need to be proud we made it this far and continue to show we can make it through another semester,” Clifford concluded.