The clubs and organizations fair held Tuesday in the quad gave students the opportunity to find clubs that have activities they’d like to be a part of.
The fair is held at the beginning of the each school year and features close to 130 organizations a year. It’s open to all students, but is aimed towards freshmen and transfer students to see everything they are able to be a part of on campus.
“This is an event that I would always look forward to just because I know what it did for me when I first got here,” Graduate Assistant for Service Involvement and Leadership Olivia Langston said.
The fair has been going on for many years and is meant to show everything our campus has to offer that isn’t always advertised, as well.
“When I was a freshman, it allowed me to join about four to five different clubs and now I’m a president of a club because of it,” junior exercise science and Run Club president, Noah Schuler said.
Schuler said his club is all about running and furthering exercise for students. It is nothing serious, but more of a fun and recreational club to exercise and meet new people.
“I think the big thing is that clubs help you meet new people, especially as a new student, when you may not know a lot of people on campus,” Schuler said.
Schuler said he hopes that students take away that there are great opportunities at SRU to meet new people and the students just have to take advantage of them.
Langston explained that in high school, students are involved in organizations such as student government, and at Slippery Rock, one can continue that and then some more.
“It helps you make new friends, network for future career opportunities, and enjoy your time here on campus,” junior French and Spanish secondary education major Lindsay Westwood said.
Langston said that there are so many different clubs that students may not know about that colleges offer and activities they wanted to do in high school that they can do in college now.
“I always say, ‘How do you know if you like something if you don’t try it?’” Langston said.
Several different clubs were featured at the fair including the Women’s Solar Center, SRU Art Society, SRU Adventure Fitness, Film Society, Green and White Society, Study Abroad Club, Black Action Society, University Program Board and more.
Member of the Study Abroad Club and junior psychology major, Lauren Hollis, said that their team helps to teach people how to study abroad and the ways to work with the financial aid portion while reassuring that all of the different trip options and opportunities are for everyone.
“I hope people take away that from talking to us that students can study anywhere and it’s open to any major because that’s been a question that everyone asks,” Hollis said.
Hollis said she feels that the club and organization fair helps people open up and learn different things about themselves that maybe they wouldn’t have known otherwise.
“There’s so many different options and if you think you don’t belong, there’s definitely something for you to find,” Hollis said.
Langston said that academics on campus come first, but in her graduate assistant program, she learns about what getting involved in clubs on campus does for a student.
Langston explained that being involved in something makes a student develop further, whether they create those bonds of friendships or carry out roles in leadership.
According to Langston, students may think that they’re a part of an organization one day, but then the following year they could become the president of the organization and have it lead to much more than they expected.
“It builds that confidence in a student knowing that they can be a part of something this big and it helps the students grow,” Langston said.
Westwood believes that there are several very interesting organizations on campus to join and that all students should attend the clubs and organizations fair because they feature clubs that she was not even aware SRU had.
“Write down your email and sign up for anything and everything because you don’t know if you’re not going you like it until you try,” Langston said.
