The Center for Leadership and Student Involvement (CLSI) held the Student Organization Involvement Fair for the 2019 fall semester. All CLSI-recognized organizations set up tables on Academic Quad Thursday, September 5 for students to learn about and sign up for clubs.

Sophomore Jackson Hoit, President of the Colgate Angling Society, said he was pleased with the Involvement Fair’s turnout and is excited about the future of his own club. 

“Fishing is definitely pretty big around here. A lot of students brought their own rods from home or are having them shipped to campus to take advantage of the diverse fishing this area has to offer, I think this club will help take advantage of the student interest that is already there,” said Hoit. 

Hoit said he felt  excited by the 60 plus students who signed up to join his club on Thursday. 

“This year we are greatly improving our visibility, and the club fair is great at helping usget our name out there,” Hoit said.

Sophomore Alique Fisher, co-leader of the Real Food Project, said she hopes that student outreach will help her club achieve its goals for the year. Fisher was pleased by the interest and support that the Real Food Project received during the fair — both first-years and seniors signed up to join.

“The aim of The Real Food Project is to expose the food industry by using local, seasonal, sustainable ingredients to make our own food and promote eating local rather than shipping produce across the country,” Fisher said. “I was really surprised because I just started this organization, so to get this many signatures is really exciting.” 

Sophomore Maxine Brannon said she felt excited by the new organizations she didn’t already know about. 

“I think the club fair is really great because even though I participated in various organizations last year, there are new ones that have just popped up. I also didn’t notice some of these clubs last year, and being able to have another chance for exposure to these new groups is definitely exciting,” Brannon said.

First-year Miles Baccari has only been on campus for a couple of weeks, and prior to the fair had not been exposed to Colgate’s extracurricular involvement opportunities. 

“There are a lot of clubs here,” said Baccari, “and there is also such a large diversity in the choices we have to sign up. I like how you can sign up for as many clubs as you want, and if you decide you’re no longer interested there’s no commitment in the beginning. The club leaders have also been extremely engaging and welcoming.”

First-Year Natalie Ringel was also grateful for the Involvement Fair and the opportunities it provides for incoming students. 

“This was a really great idea. It’s a beautiful day and it’s really exciting to come out here and see all the booths. All this makes me really excited to get involved. I’m thinking about joining a bunch of the outreach opportunities at the COVE,” Ringel said.

CLSI’s Student Organization Involvement Fair takes place twice per year, at the start of each semester.