Taking A Look Back At The Column: Organization Of The Week

Photo Credit: Evan Brooks

When I first began this column in the fall semester of 2020, I stated that “with over 280 campus student organizations at West Chester University, I thought it would be an important first step to cover a select organization each week.” While I did not quite meet that goal of an organization each week, I was fortunate enough to feature 20 organizations. Over the course of writing on each of those organizations, I was able to see the true level of involvement, diversity, and dedication within each group I wrote about and featured. My original stated goal for this column was “to achieve a better understanding of what the highlighted organization represents and offers in terms of experiences.” I hoped that, in depicting what each organization was about, a “new understanding” could be fostered concerning what organizations on campus really do, and within that, promote “higher involvement within all clubs and organizations.” I am unsure whether that goal was actually met, but I think a better understanding was fostered in terms of what each organization is about, how unique they are, and just how important each active organization is to the student life and experiences at West Chester University. If there is one takeaway from this column, it is how unique each organization really is, and how important they are to the students.

One could say this column had four editions to it, as each semester I tried to enhance what the column could do in terms of featuring each organization. The first edition, if you will, was simplistic in how it was structured. Mostly, it was based on just the experiences the leadership and members had in that organization and the article would feature their voices, in that sense, telling their experiences. That would remain a key component of the column in spite of its several changes.

The next edition, I still mainly focused on the student experiences, but attempted to highlight the individuals and the organization as a whole a bit more. I ensured that their Ramconnect page and social media were displayed in a more eye-catching fashion. The biggest change, even though it seems small, would be implementing the “academic makeup” section at the bottom of each article. This was done in an effort to connect the reader with the individuals that gave their experiences. It was also a good study in seeing the main academic makeup of the board, or the group featured, but more often than not, it showed the diversity of each group within the academic space.

Within the third edition, or those featured this past fall semester of 2021, I tried to mesh the experiences in a better manner within each article. There was also an attempt to highlight the upcoming activities from each organization, because the column could also serve as a marketing tool for each organization. Otherwise, the biggest change in formatting came with the last edition, featured this spring semester of 2022.

For the final edition, I wanted to focus more broadly on the organization featured to get a fuller picture of the organization through providing a snapshot of each of the following aspects: the history of the organization, uniqueness, service completed, experiences and the events coming up or held in the past. Through each of those sections, the big picture of each organization featured could be analyzed by the reader.

To summarize, the column morphed overtime to provide a better story of each organization, but never lost the key point that the experiences of students within the group are the most important aspect and should be highlighted whenever possible. Each of the 20 organizations featured can be seen in the table provided below. Since the last time I wrote about them, some much longer ago than others, some have grown, continue to grow, or need membership to maintain themselves. The encouragement from this article is to look back at each of those featured — look them up on Ramconnect or on their social media, and see about joining. Each organization was featured because they offer a small window into the grand diversity at WCU. All organizations and groups, including The Quad Student Newspaper, offer opportunities to those who want to join. The final word on each organization, and this column is: never stop looking for ways to expand your horizons, from your mind to your network, which can be done through joining organizations and learning about how you can contribute to the positive impact they bring to the surrounding community.

Evan Brooks is a fourth-year Business Management major with minors in Economics and Civil and Professional Leadership EB916132@wcupa.edu.