On February 18 through February 21, Buena Vista University (BVU) students attended the IMPACT Conference at the University of Massachusetts. The conference focused on civic engagement and educating and empowering college students to participate in and foster social action. There were 90 workshops that students could choose to attend.

On the evening of February 18, the BVU group attending the conference was notified of a gunman on campus. Ashley Farmer-Hanson, one of the advisors on the trip, said that the group had just arrived on campus and were looking for the Student Union when they were notified of the gunman.

“I was nervous when I first heard what was happening,” sophomore Cristena Heschke said. “Once we made it to a safe place, I knew the school had things handled and would keep us as informed as possible.”

Heschke said that the incident did not affect the rest of the conference for her.

“The exciting, fun, and comfortable atmosphere of the conference made it easy to enjoy the rest of our weekend at the University of Massachusetts,” Heschke said.

Senior Krislyn Erickson was one of the students on the trip. She attended workshops that focused on fully committing to community service and including others.

“I will take everything that I learned from the conference and find ways to incorporate it into student organizations on campus to serve the Storm Lake community and surround areas,” Erickson said.