Emily Yinger, Guest Writer~
Lynchburg College held its annual spring semester organization fair on Wednesday, Feb. 7, 2018. The fair was located in the West Room on the third floor of the Drysdale Student Center.
Thirty organizations and clubs were featured at the organization fair. The number of organizations represented at the fair makes up less than half of the total organizations and clubs that operate on campus. Some of the organizations at the fair included Bonner Leaders, Relay for Life and Lynchburg College Smash.
Student Government Association (SGA) President Sara Severens felt that the organization fair offered a great opportunity for clubs to be seen on campus, because it was situated in an area where many students pass through to get to dinner.
“The Organization Fair provides the best and most amount of visibility for organizations,” said Severens.
Despite improving her club’s visibility, Severens does not believe that the organization fair is necessarily the best way to obtain new members.
“SGA receives a lot of their new members when current members extend personal invitations to potential members or friends that they think should join SGA,” she said.
Some organizations focused the aim of their presence at the organization fair toward providing more information to curious students about what their club has to offer.
“CSA [Commuter Student Association] is hoping to eventually transform an off-campus college-owned house into a commuter lounge to provide commuter students with a great place to study and do homework during the day,” said Commuter Student Association President Mary King.
King is also hoping to include more interactive programs on campus such as selecting a CSA student of the week and providing giveaways for non-members.
Many organizations gave out candy, stickers and other small prizes to encourage students to visit their table.
Some campus groups, such as the Enrollment Student Ambassadors, handed out flyers advertising their upcoming interest meeting for potential new members.
Other organizations, like Man2Man, hoped to target a specific audience.
“For us, since we are a black male leadership group and there aren’t a lot of black students on campus, it’s a good way to advertise on campus,” said Man2Man member Claudio Otero III.
The next Organization Fair will be held in August during Hornet Days. For more information about Lynchburg College organizations and clubs visit https://www.lynchburg.edu/student-life/clubs-and-organizations/.
