Returning What Was Lost: Reengaging and Reconnecting Students through Community Engagement

Stephen F Austin State University, Baker Pattillo Student Center, Student Center Theatre and Twilight Ballroom

Humanistic geographers have referred to the theory of sense of place as a personal connection with place, built up over both years of residence and involvement in the community (Hay, 1988). Community engagement activities such as the SFA Stone Fort Museum’s “Esperanza’s Night Out” provided a venue for the students to belong to a place after the pandemic. Students were able to reconnect and reengage through a collaborative event with the university and the local community.