West Chester University has over 200 different student organizations to get involved with. This large number of involvement opportunities can sometimes make it difficult for students to know what the organizations are about or which organizations to get involved with. In many cases, students are not aware of what organizations there are at all.Fortunately for those students who are looking to become active on campus, the Office of Student Leadership and Involvement puts together an involvement fair for students each semester. The Fair is an opportunity for students and their organizations to showcase what their groups are about.
The spring involvement fair is something that came about after the fall involvement fair had already been created and developed. Charlie Warner, the director of Student Leadership and Involvement said the reason for the spring fair’s creation was because the students wanted it. New and transfer students wanted an opportunity to learn about the various organization on campus and the organizations wanted the chance to welcome and recruit these students. Warner also said that the spring fair is beneficial to the first-year students who chose to take their first semester at college to get adjusted and are now looking to get involved during the spring semester.
Spear-headed by leadership consultant, senior Jackie Aliotta, with the help of the rest of the LC team, the involvement fair was held in Sykes Ballrooms on Wednesday, Jan 21 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. The leadership consultants advertised, organized and decorated for the involvement fair.
The fair took on an “Under the Sea” theme and was decorated with balloons, sea creatures and grass skirts. Each organization also had the opportunity to decorate its individual table to go along with the theme. Students could vote for which table they liked best, and the top three winners would receive a monetary prize for their organization. Alpha Xi Delta won first place, the Latino-American Student Association won second place, and the University Ambassadors won third place.
A total of 74 organizations participated in Wednesday’s fair. The types of organizations represented varied. Governing and Programming bodies, such as Student Government Association, Homecoming Committee and Sykes Union Advisory Board participated in the fair.
Student Government senator Joy Lombard commented on how the fair is beneficial to SGA. “It is a good way to encourage new faces to join a growing society,” Lombard said.
Student Activities Council, another programming body, took the involvement fair as an opportunity to advertise its upcoming events like their program with Brian Dawkins.
Some academic groups represented included Spanish Club, English Club, Students in Communication and the Alchemist Club.
Students in Communication President Jessica Schlener said, “I participate in the involvement fair because our organization has grown from 20 to 150 members in the past two years. We want to continue to grow the organization through exposure and promoting our trips, events and leadership opportunities.”
Hillel, the WCU Jewish community, the Asian Student Association and Black Student Union were some of the multicultural groups to have tables. Some groups for the more adventurous student, like Tae Kwon Do Club and Outdoors Club, took part in the fair. Greek Life also had a strong representation at the fair, sharing with students the social and philanthropic aspects of its sororities and fraternities.
Several service-based organization participated in the involvement fair as well. Some of these groups included Invisible Children at WCU, Habitat for Humanity and the Abbe and Friar societies.
The Ashraya Initiative for Children was a new student group to participate in the fair. The group first began as a class and recently became an official student organization. The group’s purpose is to raise money and materials for an orphanage in India. The organization has sent over $10,000 in the last two semesters, and meets Tuesdays at 2 p.m. in the Old Library.
There are a number of ways students at WCU can get involved. The involvement fair provided organizations with an opportunity to showcase their groups and students with an opportunity to explore what organizations are right for them.
The Office of Student Leadership and Involvement in Sykes 238 and the LEAD office in Sykes 212 are both additional resources for students who are still looking to get involved.
Anna Moronski is a third-year student majoring in Communicaion Studies with a minor in Journalism. She can be reached at
AM626969@wcupa.edu.