Shepherd University’s Program Board, Student Government Association along with Student Activities and Leadership hosted over 40 student clubs and organizations in the annual Fall Involvement Fair last Wednesday, Sept. 4 at the Midway Lawn. Up to 400 students were in attendance, including over 40 student clubs and organizations, according to organizers.
“There are around 40 to 50 clubs and organizations this year, but we have over 80 total at Shepherd University. 40 to 50 are the clubs here today.” Program Board member and organizer of the Fair Oli Pierce said.
The Involvement Fair is an event that the University holds every year to showcase many of the clubs and organizations that Shepherd has to offer to its student body, such as sororities, fraternities, and various academic clubs
The Fair is especially beneficial to new students looking to get involved on campus, and just as beneficial for returning students, as well as an opportunity to talk to current members, and sign up for various clubs and organizations.
Isabell Peterson, a freshman student at Shepherd, explained after the fair, “I love it, I think I’ve learned a lot about what’s available to me.”
This year’s fair is different from other years, as last week’s location was the Midway lawn. It has previously fluctuated between the F Parking Lot across from Potomac Place and the Storer Ballroom in the Student Center, next to the Lawn.
Moreover, the fair is different due to a new implementation of flags for organization purposes, according to Pierce.
“The thing that’s the most different about this [fair] is not interesting to anybody else, but we have these little flags that keep people only getting in through check-in. We did the borders so we can get a more accurate count of students, because then people aren’t just hopping in,” she said.
This helped the organizers count the Fair’s number of students who attended, which capped by roughly 400, 20 attendees more than last year’s, which capped around 380 people, according to organizers.
Leaders of student clubs who had tables in the Fair could also tell there was a difference in this year’s fair, mainly with the increased number of new students.
“I think the freshman class this year is super active, and I feel like wants to get more involved with the community on campus in general, so I definitely feel like there is a bigger outreach than there was last year,” President of Rams Care, Shepherd’s Mental Health Awareness Club, Samantha Fridley said.
Students can find all information pertaining to Shepherd events such as the Involvement fair by going on Rampulse.