For undergraduate Charles Neumann, the announcement that spring quarter classes would be delivered via remote instruction was sad news. Like many graduating seniors, he had hoped to spend his final days at UC Santa Barbara in the company of friends on the picturesque campus.
“I was actually studying in the library at the time,” recalled Neumann, a fourth-year political science and global studies major, “so I just decided to write a post on Facebook.” His idea: Keep the community together by creating a joint server where fellow Gauchos could enjoy the video game Minecraft with each other.
He didn’t expect much attention, but interest exploded. “Comments in the posts started talking about, ‘Oh, let’s re-create campus,’” he said. “‘Let’s build Storke Tower.’”