First-years in the Class of 2027 and returning students flooded the Gator Quad for the bi-annual display of hundreds of organizations students can participate in to enrich their college experience. On Thursday, Aug. 31, those clubs gathered to recruit new members through the fall Involvement Fair.
President of Students for Environmental Action Julia Sonen, ’24, revealed some challenges that have emerged in planning for the fair due to the current internet issues.
“I typically give people my laptop and ask people to sign up online directly and if the Wi-Fi is this bad I don’t know if I’ll be able to do that,” Sonen said. “We will probably have to do paper signups and then spend hours putting those into the computer — which will be less than ideal.”
Sonen also described the new guideline restrictions for posters to hang in the Campus Center which has caused many clubs to have to create new posters for the fair.
“They now have to be 22 by 36 inches, whereas before they were much wider,” Sonen said. “That means I can’t keep reusing my posters, so all of my clubs have had to be in the (Student Life) Resource Room making new posters — which is not something we have had to do in the past two or three years.”
In preparation for the fair, club leaders have begun thinking about how they want to advertise their club to catch the attention of new students. Club members and leaders often graduate, so clubs use the Involvement Fair to replace their losses and maintain an active membership base.
Vice President of Student Art Society Caitlyn Thompkins, ’25, explained some of the features she will spotlight about her club.
“I know art spaces can be really intimidating and feel exclusionary so I really want to highlight the fact that it is something for everyone whether you are an art student or not,” Thompkins said. “I feel like people need to know that art spaces don’t have to be — or at least shouldn’t be —exclusionary. I want to create an art space that includes everybody.”
When Thompkins first started looking for clubs to join at the fair, she recalls using her experiences in high school to inform what she might be interested in participating in during her college experience.
“It was really cool to see what else was out there at the fair, because there was a lot more than I was expecting,” Thompkins said. “There were clubs that didn’t exist in high school that could fit a wide range of interests, so I felt really comfortable and invited into this new space.”
Thompkins added that joining organizations is an integral part of creating friendships because the students she met already had common ground with her. She advised new students to not force themselves to make final decisions with clubs.
“Don’t put pressure on yourself to set yourself in a box or with a group of people right away,” Thompkins said. “If you end up not liking a club, it is OK, because there are a hundred others.”
With the fair, students can also join faith oriented organizations to find a religious community on campus.
President of Allegheny Christian Outreach Ankitha Pamula, ’24, said ACO is one of the organizations on campus that contribute to spiritual diversity.
“The ACO table, along with Hillel and ICA — the Islamic Cultural Association — all embody the rich spiritual life that we have on campus,” Pamula said. “We think it is great to have student-to-student interaction at the fair and let them know that we have a rich spiritual life on campus.”
Some steps ACO will take to attract and retain new members is highlighting the opportunities for conferences during their first meeting. ACO had previously recruited new members during a “Christian Meet-and-Greet” on Aug. 27 but hoped to gain more members during the fair.
“We hope to send personalized letters to everyone’s mailboxes so they know we are thinking of them and that we are so happy they joined,” Pamula said. “We have ordered some supplies like stickers that are faith-based, and we’re doing bracelets that people can just grab passing by.”
Pamula connected student engagement to clubs and organizations in Allegheny to the overall retention rate of the school.
“I think a lot of students find it difficult to want to stay at Allegheny if they are not involved in extracurriculars or social activities outside of academics,” Pamula said. “They play a big role in the retention rate and just overall the campus vibe.”