With booths lined up between the University Center and the bookstore, hundreds of students attended the Sept. 10 Involvement Fair to make new connections. Behind the buzz, however, organization leaders and members prepared for days, weeks or months to maximize engagement with the student body.
Many tables featured similar materials, including QR codes linked to their Connect2 pages or promotional items for students to take. To stand out, many organizations brought unique props and handouts.
“A lot of our stuff we gather throughout the year,” said senior Jesus Suarez Jimenez, activities and events coordinator of Latinos Unidos. “The tapestry we have for our table, we’ve always had that on hand; candy, we always keep that restocked, keep that well stocked; and our trifold, we usually keep that ready long before the involvement fair.”
Even with club preparation, it is not always the physical items on the table that draw interest. Sometimes, as freshman Archie Spradling comments, it is about the past experiences and requirements, or lack thereof, that attract students.
“I was very interested in DECA and the Ecology Club as well, that really sold it for me,” Spradling said. “I did some DECA in high school. I ended up having to drop the club halfway through my senior year, due to other complications, but it was a lot of fun, and I’d like to get more involved with it. The Ecology Club really was interesting to me because they made it very specific that I didn’t have to be an ecology major to join, and that it was just a great way to get people who love nature together once a week.”
While most organizations aimed to recruit members, others had different motives. Many were also present to answer student questions or explain the nature of their organization.
Ducks Unlimited president, junior Casey Milbauer, described the organization’s goals.
“We’re trying to recruit and inform,” Milbauer said. “A lot of people think we’re just a hunting club, so we want to inform people that we’re 100% a conservation club. Hunting is just one of our bigger markets that we kind of push towards to raise money. But we are first and foremost a conservation club that wants to save land and save waterfowl. We’re also looking to recruit a lot of people. We do get incentives for the amount of people we recruit, so the more people we recruit, the more money that can go back to the wetlands and back into conservation.”
With hundreds of students in the market for involvement, organizations used the fair to grow their membership. For the newer organizations, the fair served as an early promotional opportunity and a way to gauge interest in their clubs.
Founded in fall 2024, the Coffee Lovers Club reflected on the impact left by its first Involvement Fair.
“Last fall was our first year on campus as the club, so it really boosted our following,” said senior Jamison Armeni, president of the Coffee Lovers Club. “We had around 250 people by our table at the Involvement Fair last year, so that was super cool to see everyone just so interested in the coffee and the club.”
As organizations settle back into their routines, the new challenge they will face, on top of the continued effort to attract students, will be retaining the faces they gathered at the Involvement Fair.
