Cothran Center promotes Spring Retreat

Each semester, the Cothran Center at Furman University hosts a retreat for students to get away from campus life and interact with peers, share stories and explore the broader issues of meaning and purpose. For the spring retreat, Cothran Center student advisory team member Matt Bush ’25, hatched an idea for promoting the daylong event happening at Conestee Nature Preserve Saturday, March 29.

Matt Bush ’25 (right) has Katie McCawley ’26 write an intention on a kite before flying it at Milford Mall in front of the library.

Typically, campus groups will set up tables outside the Duke Library to deliver information about events and causes. But Bush, inspired by spring and the new beginnings it holds, decided to use kites to draw attention to the retreat. Students gathered near the library steps and wrote their hopes, dreams and expectations on colorful kites, then they took turns flying them on a bright, windy Wednesday in “a sort of tapestry of students’ thoughts about the future,” said Bush, a sustainability science and philosophy double major.

Some of the hopes inscribed on the kites were simple like a productive study session in the library or seeing the stars on a clear night. Others aspired to make an impact during their upcoming study abroad adventures. And another student voiced his desire to go into outer space.

Rolyn Rollins ’97, program coordinator for student initiatives at the Cothran Center, said Bush’s promotion reminded her why it’s important to involve students in the creative process of program planning. “I never would have thought of the idea on my own,” she said.

About 25 students are signed up for the retreat with registration available through Wednesday, March 26. “Each retreat includes reflective experiences for students to explore questions of meaning and purpose,” Rollins said.

Bush said, “You need separation and space for big questions, and you need time to sit with those thoughts. Otherwise, they will just be passing thoughts.”