Episode 147–No Bored Bears

From behind-the-scenes planning for the highly anticipated UPC BearFest concert to the power of finding belonging through clubs and organizations, this episode dives into the heart of campus life. 

Welcome back to Bear in Mind. The podcast where we talk about all things University of Northern Colorado. From campus life to student resources and everything in between. I am your host, Kinsley Walker. And today, we are diving into what makes UNC so special. Joining us for this episode is Keri Knight. I am super excited to have her here as a guest. She is the director of student activities and fraternity and sorority life. She is going to tell us everything about how you can get involved in student activities, clubs that you might not have known were on campus. And maybe a little sneak peek at the UPC BearFest later this year. So if you are curious for any of that, you should probably stick around. Let’s get started. 

Thank you so much for doing the podcast today. How are you doing today? 

I’m loving it. The weather’s been so nice. So it’s been great to be outside and not locked inside trying to stay warm. 

Right. I’ve been having tumbleweeds attack me, though, when I drive. 

I know the wind today is crazy. 

Yeah. I’m like, swerving away from tumbleweeds. They are trying to hit my car. But for people who don’t know, who are you? What do you do? 

Yeah. So I am Keri Knight. I am the director of student activities in fraternity and sorority life. 

So my job is to work with all the clubs and organizations on campus to oversee the University Programs Council. Obviously, all the fraternities and sororities that we have on campus, that’s all the councils and the chapters. And then, also work with the student government. 

And how long have you been in this role? 

So my first day was actually two years ago on February 21st. 

Nice. 

So just- 

Happy two-year anniversary. 

I moved here from Portland, Oregon. So. 

Oh, really? 

I fell in love with Colorado. 

I love Oregon. I have family in Oregon. So we love to go to Oregon. 

I was just out there for Christmas. Got to go out to the beach. So that’s the one thing I miss is not having the ocean. I’ll take a Mecca every year to put my feet in the ocean. 

So I am going to start with what everyone’s automatically going to think of, which is the UPC. Right. And this big concert that happens at the end of the year in this big festival. How do you even prepare for that? 

Well, first of all, our University Programs Council has some incredible student leaders. So Kayden Bowyer is the president right now. And so she’s kind of heading that up. But, Lola Chavez, she, made some connections with downtown Greeley. So with some of the budget cuts that we’ve had this year, we were able to put on the concert. So we were really worried that we weren’t going to be able to. But we work with, like, a third-party vendor to make sure that all the contracts are secure. 

So, they give us a list of all of the artists that are in our budget, and we just have our students look at the artists, pick who their favorite artists are, and then we work on negotiating the contract. And then we work on making sure production, stage, sound, lights, and everything is ready to go. So there’s a lot of work. 

Yeah. 

I would say what they do in about six months. Some other places it might take a full year to do. So students are working part-time. They make it all happen. 

And I mean, that’s amazing for the students working on the UPC for marketing. And like other experiences they get to work on. 

And Zoe West has an amazing marketing campaign for this. So you all will start seeing here very shortly some hints that are drops about the artist that we just signed. I’m really excited about it. One of our students almost started crying when I announced who we signed. It’s one of their absolute favorite artists, and there are so many big things that are just about to happen with this artist that I think our students are going to be super excited about. 

I am super excited. I’m so ready to start seeing the promo and everything about it. 

I am awful at keeping secrets. 

Yeah. Like you’re like, I gotta, I gotta, I can’t say anything. 

Like, don’t let it slip. 

I hope it doesn’t rain this year, though. It rained last year, and I was like, no! 

And we pushed it out as far as we can. So May 1st is the date of the concert. And everyone put that in your calendar. Nobody goes home. It’s the weekend right before finals. Everyone should be here anyway, right? 

Right. 

You’re going to go home the next week after you’re done with finals. So yeah, we’re really excited about that. And as I said, this year it’s going to be in downtown Greeley. 

So they’re at Ninth Street like they do their Friday fest. If anyone’s been to that. So we’ll have lots of vendors, lots of food. There’ll be tons of things to do, along with going to the concert. And we’re also going to have a battle of the bands before that. 

Oh, so fun. 

Yeah. Students can sign up, and they can actually perform and be an opener. 

Oh, that’s so cool! 

So we will have multiple openers. Yeah. So what a great experience for our students. 

Yeah. And that’s a good way to just like, you said it’s before finals? 

Yeah. 

Great way to relax before finals. So you don’t feel like you’re going crazy during finals. You’re like, at least I went to a cool concert last week. 

And it’s open to the community too. So if you have friends, bring them along. 

Yeah. I mean, why not make it make a whole little day? I’m so excited. I went almost all day last year, and I had so much fun. And I was like, it’s the middle of May. Why are we snowing right now? I think it was like end of April, beginning of May. I was like, why is it snowing right now? It’s cold, like you’re supposed to be warm and nice outside. No. You’re snowing? 

I know it was on April 25th last year. And there’s a joke from Miss Congeniality. Like, what is your favorite date? And she says April 25th. All you need is a light jacket. So I kept saying, this is the perfect date. Yeah, because all you need is a light jacket. And then. 

And then Colorado was like, no, I think I’m going to snow a little bit at least. 

So we did a quick turnaround. 

Yes. Yeah. Everything was, yeah. 

But this year we’re still having the petting zoo. 

Oh, so fun. 

And we’ll have tons of food trucks, everything. So the whole day here on campus will also be a lot of fun. And we’re also partnering with the rec center to put on, like, a field day. The theme is survivors, and everyone can sign up during the day and play field games with their friends. And then line up for the petting zoo and just have so much fun. 

And then you also said you’re in charge of, like, clubs and orgs too? I mean, how many clubs and orgs do we have on campus? 

We have over a hundred. 

Oh my goodness. 

Yes. And so there’s always something going on. And so that’s really exciting to be able to work with so many different student groups. So we have our religious clubs. We have a lot of arts and theater groups. So they’re always doing something fun in the area. You know, we have our sports, language, and culture. So really, anything that you’re interested in. And then if we don’t have a club that you’re interested in, it’s super easy to sign up. You just have to have two other friends, find an advisor, and then I’ll help you with your bylaws. 

And you just sign up on Bear Connect, and within 24 to 48 hours, we can have you up and running as a club. 

And then that’s perfect, that you don’t have to wait too long. 

And then you can start having fun and having the experience that you want. 

Yeah. Is that what you would tell a student if they were like, I don’t know how to connect on campus? How do I get involved on campus? Would you tell them to look straight to clubs and orgs? 

Yeah, I think this is one of my favorite questions. I actually have parents like when they come to orientation that will call up and say, hey, my students are not finding belonging, what can they do? And so this is a fixable problem. 

And so I would say go on, Bear Connect. And if you’re into making art, you can look up, and you’ll see tailor textiles. Right. Do that. We have lots of theater groups on Sunday. We actually have an improv group that puts on free shows for students. Right. And so you can go, join that improv group, you can go see shows. 

And so what I would say is look up whatever your interest is, and then see when they meet. Go to an event that they have and just see how that feels. Sometimes it’s really scary. Like I said, I just moved here two years ago. So I also had to put myself out there. Right. Right. And so sometimes it’s easier just to go back to your residence hall, and watch your favorite show and stream that. But we had a report that came out that said 73% of the students here at UNC last year did not have belonging, and they felt alone. So if you walk up to four students, three of those students are feeling alone. 

And so a lot of times you think everyone else has found their friend group and you’re the only one. But most likely if you walk up to someone and say, hey, I’m going to this improv thing on Sunday, do you want to go with me? Someone else is going to say, finally somebody sees me, let’s go together. So I would say look up Bear Connect. Last semester, we had over 1200 events, and we have like 900 posted right now for this semester. 

Goodness gracious. 

There’s so much going on. And then we also have the athletic events, so you can grab some friends and go to the athletic events next week. UPC is having a plant event. I think there are 3 or 4 different events during the week. And who doesn’t want plants to go in their apartment or their residence hall? And so what a great opportunity to grab someone and say, let’s go get some plants together. Let’s go do this. So yeah, look up Bear Connect. There’s things going on during the day. There’s things going on in the evenings. Lots of fun to have. 

One of my coworkers on Bear News is actually working on, like, a promotional video about the plant event next week to talk about it, but I don’t know if I should go because I already kill so many plants. I already have like 12 that are dying. I don’t know if I need another one. 

Okay. I will teach you how. I have such a green thumb. But when I moved to Colorado, I had to learn at this altitude, in this dry weather, how to keep things alive. So I started killing things. But now I worked with the Master Gardeners in Greeley, and they helped me learn how to keep everything alive. 

That is what I need to do! 

I’ll give you some hints. 

Okay. Please do. 

Or maybe at this event, one of the students. I know we have a gardening club also here on campus. 

Maybe that’s what I need to join. I need to be like, help me. 

Yeah. Joining the club has really helped me out with a lot of tips, too. 

So that’s what I need. 

Shoutout to Jonah. 

I mean, Bear Connect is just crazy, like, I don’t think I’ve ever gone on Bear Connect and been like, dang, there’s nothing here for me. There’s always something. Yeah, there’s always something. 

Yeah. The coolest thing is this year, as we’ve been looking at the Google Analytics in the report to Bear Connect, the usage has gone up 818%. And I mean to double the amount of usage in a year. Sounds incredible, right? Yeah. Over 800% more people are getting on. So that’s really great to see that people are utilizing it. Clubs are putting their events on. So it’s a great marketing tool as well. 

I mean, even maybe it’s because I live in Candelaria. But walking down the staircase, there are always flyers of a million different events, groups, or clubs. 

I love walking around and seeing all the things written in chalk on the sidewalk. 

Right? 

Some people that are doing incredible artwork. Wow. If you’re that good at chalk, that’s going to be washed away. I can’t see what else they put out in the world. 

Or like bowling, there’s bowling ones written everywhere right now. I’m like, I didn’t even know we did anything with bowling. Well, what’s one that you see sometimes? And you’re like, I didn’t even know we had that or that. You think students don’t know that we 

have? 

There’s a group that does like cosplay. So they dress up and interact together, and I think that’s so fun. And how great it is to just be able to take on any character and live in a fantasy land. 

So I think that’s really fun. I also love all the club sports that we have going on. The intramural activities that we have going on at the rec center. They’re fun to watch as well. 

Yeah, maybe I need to go learn, be sportsy, and try to be athletic. And at the same time, fix my issue with killing plants. 

Yeah, those are two good goals. 

Yeah. Try to kill two birds with one stone. And then earlier, you were talking about how the UPC, and you are teaming with Greeley for the concert this year. Has UNC ever teamed with Greeley on other projects? How does that work? What’s that process like? 

So this is a huge shout-out to Lola Chavez. So, she is our outreach coordinator. And so she reaches out to a lot of businesses. She reached out to downtown Greeley and made that connection. So, as I said, we weren’t going to have the budget to do all of this. And because downtown Greeley is going to take care of the stage and the sound for us, we were able to spend more money and get a really great artist. And so, it’s a lot of work that goes into it. But Lola has been making those connections. We also go down to the downtown Greeley Business Association. So all of the businesses come together. I think it’s the third Friday of every month, and we talk about what the university’s doing. Athletics is also there, talking to different businesses. We’ve been able to partner a lot. So if you go on Bear Connect, there’s also a downtown Greeley business page. So if you’re like, what’s going on down here? You know, Maker’s Mark has a lot of events going on. We have the Yoga Balanced Studio that they’ll put a lot of free events to get students attracted to that. I’ve taken some of those classes, and I love lifting. I’m not very balanced. But the stretching has been really great, the instructor there is amazing. So those opportunities where you have to go use the resources of Greeley. I think when people choose UNC, they’re also choosing Greeley. But a lot of students, people here in Greeley, always say, oh, they stay in the hard eight, which I’ve never heard students use, but a lot of people here in Greeley. And so it’s just the blocks around the university. And they really want students to come out and explore downtown. I know I have seen them down at restaurants, and there’s always a line at some of the dance clubs down there. So really fun to see students downtown. But lots of opportunities to partner with downtown Greeley. And Daniela and Gii have been incredible partners in the downtown Greeley Association. So if any groups are wanting to partner with Greeley, happy to connect them to our partners down there. 

And I’m sure that this concert in this event is going to hopefully make students realize, like, downtown Greeley is kind of cool. Like, there’s so much stuff to do. 

Yeah, there’s so many great restaurants to go to. There’s, you know, a lots of great breweries and places to just go hang out. I love the Kress. So you can grab a drink and get food there. On 

Wednesdays, UPC does free movies, so students can go there. I love seeing that students are utilizing that. What a great opportunity. And then there’s also, like, the bear crawl down there that you all can go to. I think that just changed to Fridays. So kind of kicking off the weekend for all of our students. So I love partnering with Greeley and so many more opportunities as the town grows. And they’re really trying to market to students here. And so during homecoming, we have a lot of events. We’re just going to try to paint downtown Greeley, you know, gold and blue. So I hope students kind of see that, get that school spirit. 

That’s so cute. I mean, I can vouch for how amazing the restaurants here are downtown, downtown Greeley. I mean, even with Roma’s closing now, there’s all this, like, talk and fundraising to get it to reopen. We love our restaurants down here. 

Well, if they don’t reopen, hopefully we get another amazing restaurant down there that has got a great location for students. I think we’ll have a lot of people that will see the buy-in for that. 

Yeah. I’m just so excited. 

Me too! There are so many great things happening. And I’m so impressed with our student leaders that are making this happen. So that’s why I’ve been giving shout-outs to all these students. We could not have done it without them. 

They are amazing people. I know a lot of people in the UPC, and they’re just so hardworking, passionate, like it’s insane. They put so much of their time and effort into making this event such a great time for everyone. I mean, if you don’t want to go do a survivor thing, then you can go pet animals, and if you don’t like animals, then you can go get food. And if you don’t like food, then there’s always something for someone to do. 

Yeah, they have a goat in the petting zoo that I’ve been trying to smuggle every time we have it. It has these cute little bangs, and I am in love. So I’m like, this goat can live in my backyard. So I’m excited about the goats coming, but I also have the best job ever because the student leaders that I work with, like I learn so much from them. And so whenever I tell people where the Department of Fun is and I don’t know why, everyone isn’t fighting to have my job. Because I get to work with the best students, I get to plan concerts and bring in, you know, farm animals and pet puppies and all these great things. So, literally the best job. 

I’m sure you’re not the only one who tried to steal an animal. I saw a couple people last year that were holding them a little too close. I was like, you got to keep an eye on them. They’re going to start running. 

The baby pigs were small enough that someone could have smuggled them. 

Some of the chickens, too. I was like, those chickens are going to be gone. 

Yes, chickens are the best. 

I love chickens. Your job sounds amazing. Like, you get to meet with all these students, figure out what’s going on around campus, how that’s involving other people, like that just sounds like fun. 

The one thing I want students to know most of all is how much I want their voices to be empowered. So if there’s something that’s happening here at the university that you don’t like, you have a student government that can fight for that. Right? And so if you come to our office, rules and policies, there’s some things that are regulated by the state. And we have to, like, stay with them. But we want to take down those barriers, and we want to give you access to things. So come talk to your student leaders and student government. If there’s an event that you want to have, we will find a way to make that happen. Like I said, we reached out to downtown Greeley to make this concert happen, and the partnership is amazing. They were so excited to be partnering with us on this. So, students, you have strong voices. The university wants to be there for you. I don’t know if this message has been made clear to students about how excited we are when they come to us and say, hey, this is a problem, can you help me fix it? And we’re like, yes, please come talk to us. So we do put on some events, but we also are here to solve some problems. 

What are some examples of problems that you’ve seen or solved in the past? 

Yeah. So, one of the things that we’re working on right now so in the process of signing up for an event, you have to sign up. There’s a thing on the conference and event side. So if you want to book a room, you sign up there. And then on Bear Connect, you have to go put your event on there to be approved by my department. Right. And so that’s a two-step process. And we’re working on getting 25 Live integrated on Bear Connect. 25 Live is the software that they use to reserve the rooms. So we can make it a one-step process for students. We’re working on just making sure that the marketing is communicated clearly. So students weren’t sure what to do on campus. That’s why Bear Connect has become such a great tool for students to use. And we’re working right now to get those across the TVs on campus. To really get that marketing clear to students. I’ve talked, I think, a little bit about how we want to get the news station. Like the stories that the new station puts on, this podcast is so incredible that these students are working so hard, but we don’t necessarily market them across campus very well. And so as students make these resources known to us, we can say, hey, let’s go talk to IT. Let’s go talk to the UC. Let’s get this more publicized for those students. So if there’s opportunities in other areas that we don’t know about, and you all are living this experience. So I’m not hanging out to hear about all the problems. But I would love for students to come to us, feel comfortable to talk to us about what is going on and how we can work together to solve that. 

There might be some on campus right now that this podcast is their favorite podcast in the world, and they don’t know about it yet. 

Yes, exactly. 

But even I mean, going a little bit back to events and clubs and works, most, if not all, are free. Like, you can go. I’ve seen clubs put on little like craft nights, where you just go and craft or volunteer or anything like that. And I don’t think maybe students realize, too, that most of the time you don’t have to give any money to do these fun events. 

Yeah. So one of my big theories is about student events. So student events are paid by student fee dollars, right? It’s not paid by your tuition dollars, but the fee money that you put in. And so students have already paid for these events. So anything that my groups put on, I absolutely will not charge you again, because even if it’s $5, someone might not have that $5, but their fees already paid for the event. So we will do everything to make the event free for everyone. And clubs also receive club funding, and that comes from student fee money. So one of the rules is that when they’re putting on events, they should be free to students. So if they’re using club funding for an event, and yes, the event has to be free. But even if some of the events they’re not using club funding and they might charge you $5 for it, the amounts are usually pretty low. So that’s great to have a low cost to do anything. When I would say 99% of everything on campus is free of charge. 

I saw last semester, a club putting on – Goodness, I feel so bad not remembering the club – like a coloring night for finals, where you can just go and color like a little coloring book, like you’re a kid again. Relieve all that stress. 

I also love to take bubble wrap and just pop that. I don’t know why. I just do that, and all my anxiety goes right out the door. 

That seems so helpful. 

I know, exactly. 

I need something else to do. 

Yeah, we need more clubs to put on stress-relieving events. 

Yeah. For finals, finals, and midterms. You’ll see me walking around here now during midterms. Popping bubble wrap. 

Everyone, we’re going to give you a square bubble wrap. 

Yeah. Alrighty. Well, is there anything else you want to add? 

I just want students to know how excited we are for them to find their sense of belonging, to find their home here. 

The thing that I love most about working at a university is when students come back, and they bring their spouse or friends, their children, and they’re like, this is where I made an impact. They can see where they built legacy. So they might say, hey, I started the garden club here. And then they’re seeing how that has grown over time. That’s really exciting to see. So, I encourage students, get out of your room, get out of the library. I do want you to make straight A’s and do well on all your tests, but finding that sense of belonging and finding people actually helps engage and help you have better grades in school. And so lots of studies that, if anyone wants to nerd out with me, it’s about belonging and engagement and how that helps you be a successful student. So Bear Connect is the strongest tool that you have, and I just encourage them, grab a friend, look up one thing that you want to do, and go try it out. If that one doesn’t work, find something the next day or the next week, but do something to find that. And I promise you, in a very short amount of time, you’ll be able to find that sense of belonging. No bored bears. So like I said, there are tons of events going on. So we should never have any bored bears here at UNC. 

And maybe you’ll find a club that, if you’re really, really into studying and you’re like, this is all I need to do, maybe you’ll find a club where you all just study. Maybe you should start one. 

A study group. Yeah. Everybody who’s taking anatomy or any of our biology science classes they need that. 

They need a study group. Alrighty. Well, thank you so much for coming on our podcast. 

Thank you for having me. This has been amazing. You are a great host. 

Thank you. I was so excited to do this episode. I’ve been bragging about it. I’ve been like, Keri Knight’s going to be in here, guys. 

And then you have to invite some of my students to, 

Oh, 100%. So yes, we have plans for that. Definitely. Okay. Thank you so much. That wraps up this episode of Bear in Mind. A big, big, big shoutout to Keri Knight for coming on. It was so amazing having her here, and I was so excited to film this episode. It was so interesting to learn about all the clubs, organizations, and activities. Things that I didn’t know that I could get involved in. How we are getting involved in Greeley. And how Greeley is helping us with the BearFest. So if you are feeling a little lonely or like there is nothing to do, make sure you go to Bear Connect and see what is out there for you. But before I get ahead of myself and start theorizing for the next twenty minutes about who the singer is going to be at BearFest this year, I am going to wrap this episode up. Thank you so much for listening to this episode of Bear in Mind. I am your host, Kinsley Walker, and I will catch you guys next time.