With over 280 campus organizations, choosing West Chester University as your home for the next four years not only solidified your quality educational experience—it solidified your leadership experience too. From Greek life to campus media, and to random things you’re interested in, you will never be bored.
Getting involved on campus is not just a way to fight boredom, though. Through involvement, you meet lifelong friends, become a leader on campus, give back to your campus and community and gain experience for the real world.
“It definitely helps you make friends, but it will also help you develop leadership skills,” said Jackie Aliotta, Assistant Director of Student Leadership and Involvement and WCU alum. “But also, [involvement] helps you develop really great leadership skills. You’re going to bring those skills to your internships, your part-time jobs, graduate school and wherever else you go after school.”
Aliotta went on to say employers look for those skills that you develop from the clubs and organizations you join.
There are a wide range of clubs on campus, including interest clubs, clubs for your major, Greek life and sports clubs. Interest clubs include organizations such as the photography club, dance teams, acapella groups, College Democrats and Republicans, improv club and more.
The clubs for your major are organizations, honor societies and more that help you network with professionals, alumni, professors and other students within your major and field. This includes the Social Work club, Astronomy club, Students in Communication, Accounting club and English clubs.
“The three things that I was the most heavily involved in at WCU were Student Activities Council (SAC), Sykes Union Advisory Board and my sorority Alpha Phi,” said Aliotta. “That really changed my life because I was able to make friends, I developed really great skills that were transferable, and it made me realize that I wanted to go into this field and I wanted to help college students love their time here in college just as much as I did.”
Greek life is a fast way to get involved and make lifelong friends as soon as freshman year. To join a Panhellenic sorority on campus, you simply register for and attend fall or spring recruitment. To join an Interfraternal fraternity, you go to informational sessions and decide which fraternity is best for you.
If you are a multicultural student looking for a sorority or fraternity outside of the Panhellenic and Interfraternal organizations, WCU has a Black and Latino Greek Council with organizations tailored to students of African-American and Latin heritage. To join one of these organizations, you decide which one is best for you and go to an informational session, or just simply attend their programs.
When asked how first-year students can get involved on campus, Aliotta suggested they come talk to staff members in the Division of Student Affairs.
“We’re here to tell them everything we know about this campus and to help them be connected to resources so they can get the support that they need,” said Aliotta.
In addition, at the beginning of each semester, the Office of Student Leadership and Involvement hosts involvement fairs so clubs and organizations can recruit new members.
Sunny Morgan is a second-year student majoring in communication studies with a minor in journalism. She can be reached at SM848270@wcupa.edu or at @SunnyMorgan97 on Twitter.