2025-2026: Marh 3rd Update

February and 2nd semester had a weird start with the snow and ice followed by the great flood of 2026! I don't know about you,  but I did not have flooding on my 2026 NCSSM Bingo Card! Even with the delayed start, Zoom classes, and having a broken first week, the semester is off to a great start. In February, we had a COVID throwback playing scribbl.io via Zoom when the return was delayed, revisited bystander interventions, colored Looney Tune cartoons to relieve stress, shared our J-Term Highlights and gave insight to juniors of next year, attempted to play dodgeball (but ended up playing basketball), organized our semester with the passion planner, had a ping pong tournament, and cracked open our Yum Yum box to name a few! 

• NCSSM Prom 2026:

“The Prom Committee is excited to extend an invitation to all residential students to join us for a night at Prom in Wonderland 2026. Prom will occur on April 11th from 8pm-12am at the Museum of Life and Science in Durham. Most students on campus attend Prom, and students are allowed to bring guests as dates from other schools by purchasing a ticket under their guest’s name. Click HERE for details about the event, how to purchase tickets, important forms, transportation options, and more!

Each year, the Prom Committee invites NCSSM families to participate in the festivities by volunteering the night of Prom at the Museum of Life and Science. There are many opportunities to be involved, from helping out with set up, to organizing the coat check, to serving appetizers, desserts, and drinks, to directing students throughout the museum, and of course the dash to clean everything up and pack it away in record time at the end of the night. Even if you can’t join us at the museum for prom night, you have the opportunity to purchase desserts for students to enjoy! For more information about volunteering at Prom, be on the lookout for an email from Janine Brumfield in the coming weeks for signups! 

In keeping with tradition, Student Life will also host an After Prom event for students to enjoy late night pizza in the PEC after prom ends. Additional details about the event and how to participate will be shared with students in future communications.

As you and your student make plans for Prom 2026, please do not hesitate to reach out to the Prom Coordinators at prom@ncssm.edu with any questions.”

• Spring Break:

“Just a quick reminder that the Residence Halls will be closing on Friday, March 27th at 5:00pm. Halls will reopen on Monday, April 6th at noon. Since this is a long break students must unplug all items in their room, including fridges and fish tanks. Students should properly defrost their fridge to avoid puddles or mold growth over the break.

Students will submit an Overnight pass on Orah before or during our hall meeting right before the Spring Break. On this Orah pass, they indicate where they are going for the break, who they are traveling with, and how they are getting to their destination. If students have specific questions about checkout procedures for Spring Break, they should speak to me.”

• Move Out:

“Juniors and Seniors will receive an email with information concerning move-out in April. In the meantime, best practice is to start evaluating which items you may be able to take home over Spring Break and the upcoming extended weekend. The more items you can get home over our final extended weekends of the year, the easier move-out will be for you. Good items to consider taking home are winter coats and clothes, extra furniture, and large items.”