By ELISA TURNER
On Wednesday, Sept. 17, the Fall Involvement Fair took place over lunch on the first floor of the Powerhouse. Tables for clubs and organizations stretched from the Spirit Shop to the Riverside lounge, starry-eyed and hopeful when faced with the prospect of incoming members.
”Pretty good turnout today,” said Ollie Idzikowski’28, lifeline for Outdoor Environmental Club (OEC) and treasurer of Artists for Change. “OEC set up a tent — that was kind of our big gimmick to try and get people in. But we got a lot of interesting clubs, mainly in the Riverside Lounge area. We have a lot of the fraternities and… special interest clubs in the hallway, near the Weissburg Auditorium.”
Idzikowski stressed the importance of the Involvement Fair for collaboration. ”The involvement fair is very important for keeping clubs like OEC alive… There’s a lot of opportunity for collaboration between the clubs here… clubs get stronger, the more connected they are to other clubs.”
Basil Nicol’28, student representative for T.C. Chamberlin Geology Club, spoke strongly of the fair’s importance for awareness among the student body. “Overall, it’s important because otherwise you’re gonna get students who just follow clubs and activities based on their major… You can have people who are going in for… business and economics, and who just like geology as a hobby. They don’t want it as a career, and that’s okay. But if the involvement fair was not here, they would not know… that they can have these opportunities to do cool geology field trips.”
Smaller clubs, too, value their space in the Involvement Fair. ”Especially since we’re a smaller club, it’s kind of hard for us to get involvement,” says Gabriella Willis’27, treasurer of French Club. “And at least with this we can straight up talk to people and be like, ‘hey… you don’t have to speak French to do French club things.’ Because people usually assume that you have to speak French, which makes sense, I get it, but I mean, we also like to talk about… French culture.”
The Involvement Fair also gives new clubs a chance to get connected with the rest of the community. “[Design for America] is a brand new club — like, as of this semester — so it’s very vital that we’re seeing new faces, whether that’s freshmen all the way up to maybe some seniors up there. So it’s a really great opportunity for us to see the faces of people that might be connected to DFA, the future of DFA. So this has been really impactful,” says Chyler Smith’28, president, student manager, founder of Beloit Chapter, and team lead of Design For America (DFA). “I’m super thankful for the Involvement Fair, because this is a great way for us to get the word out there, especially for new clubs. And I’m so happy for all the people that have stopped by.”
From legacy clubs to brand-new student endeavors, large and small, mainstream and niche, the Involvement Fair has been the landing pad for student organizations of all shapes and sizes. Though it’s moved from the Chapin quad to the Powerhouse, it remains an integral part of recruitment for student organizations.
Featured image: Beloit College
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