Work Continues on Construction of Outdoor Chapel

Nora Betts

Sower Staff

Student Senate Treasurer Alec Johnston said this week that digging the remaining postholes for the outdoor chapel project may be postponed until the spring when the ground is softer.

Volunteers have been digging postholes at the outdoor chapel site behind the David dorm in preparation for installing benches. Johnston said the ground at the site is simply not good for digging. As the weather gets colder, the ground will continue to harden and inhibit the digging efforts.

The Senate completed 42 postholes for the outdoor chapel project on Oct. 15 using both a gas auger and manual post-diggers. “The gas auger didn’t help as much as we thought it would,” said Senate Secretary Maddy Peters. Senate officers rented the gas auger in hopes of speeding up the digging process.

Volunteers worked for 1.5 hours on Saturday and dug the entire middle section of the project, but did not install the benches. Another workday will be needed to dig the remaining holes or cement the benches.

Owen Dawson, who was Senate president when the outdoor chapel project was launched, has been volunteering at the sessions.

“We get a group of people together for a few hours and make as much progress as we can digging holes, placing benches, and filling with concrete,” Dawson said. “It is good for moving toward completion, but also for conversation and bonding over a shared project.”

In other Senate action, officers said all clubs are required to create a constitution to be officially recognized on campus. Well-established clubs should have old constitutions to work from, but more details will be released in the coming weeks.

A Senate budget report also is planned, but officers have encountered technical issues with receiving accurate data and compiling the report.

The Senate also reminded clubs they are required to have a representative present at Senate meetings.