Colin Maiwurm – Staff Writer

As the spring semester begins, the chaos of finding classes and getting back into a groove consumes everyone’s time. As the fourth week of the semester comes around, everyone is starting to find their groove. With this fourth week also comes an abundance of opportunities at the involvement fair. As this is a popular and large event, we decided to interview the Assistant Director of Campus Activities in order to enlighten everyone about what the Involvement Fair is.

“The Involvement Fair is a semesterly event that gives students the opportunity to get a feel for all of the opportunities to get involved on campus through student organizations and departments.

I would highly recommend that anyone looking to get involved on campus check out the Involvement Fair.” Garrett Meier, the Assistant Director of Campus Activities, said.
The Involvement Fair usually consists of a plentitude of clubs and organizations with representatives at each table. On arrival at one of these tables, these representatives will be eager to talk and get to know you. There is no pressure to join any of the clubs while at the fair. There will be a sign up sheet at each table for those who have already decided to join the club, and all of the clubs will give you some way to contact them if you are uncertain about joining.
“This event is the only event where a large majority of the Gustavus student organizations are all in one place at the same time. This gives Gusties the chance to “shop” through all of their options and decide how they can get involved on campus with things they are interested in and passionate about.” Meier said.
Meier touched on the importance of having two Involvement Fairs, one in spring and one in fall.

“Both fall and spring involvement fairs happen right away during the second week of classes. I believe each of these fairs plays a big role in helping students find ways to pursue their interests and passions.

This allows students to find others who have a mutual interest in these passions and begin building connections and communities.” Meier said.

While knowing the significance of the Involvement Fair, more questions form dealing with the clubs. Not all clubs last all year round, some only last for the semester or for a certain season. While there were over 100 clubs and organizations promoting themselves during the fall semester’s Involvement Fair, there will only be around seventy clubs and organizations presenting themselves for this year’s spring Involvement Fair. The decrease in clubs tends to come from the inability to partake in outdoor events due to weather conditions.
Meier then touched on how a club is formed and how they function. “A club can be started with 6 student members, one full time Gustavus faculty or staff member, and a constitution. Clubs should be fully run by students. Advisors are there to advise, not run the organization. If they were in charge they would be called supervisors not advisors. With that being said a good advisor knows what the group is up to and communicates regularly with their organizations. Student orgs should use their advisor when they have questions or need help with something. That is what they are there for.” Meier said.
While clubs can be made relatively easily, they must also be filled with responsible leading members. Multiple sport clubs play games and have tournaments with other sport clubs from different colleges. Due to this, there tends to be costs that are required for the club to partake in such events.

Due to this, clubs can apply for funding through the Student Senate. Like Meier stated previously, a staff member from the college is only involved if the students in the club need to aid. Clubs are primarily run by fellow students.
This is why the student leaders are the representatives at the Involvement Fair. From recalls of previous years, there have tended to be a large quantity of students that show up to preview all of the different clubs and talk to the representatives. The types of clubs range from sporting clubs like ultimate frisbee, to clubs with a little less physical activity like the game club, to even groups like the Gustavian Weekly who are trying to interest students in job opportunities. Spring semester’s involvement fair was held 5pm to 7pm. on Wednesday, February 23 in the Campus Center banquet rooms.