By Diana Samuels

The Daily Northwestern

Associated Student Government members handed booklets to one freshman after another at Thursday’s ASG Activities Fair, not taking a break until an hour before the event ended – when all of the 2,000 booklets they had printed were gone.

“There was a wall of freshmen pouring into Norris,” said Executive Vice President Matt Bogusz, whose committee organized the event.

More than 200 student groups had booths at the annual event, displaying photos from group events, playing DVDs of performances and passing out candy in efforts to recruit new group members.

Instead of just advertising the fair around campus, ASG Executive Committee members went door-to-door Wednesday night, encouraging freshmen to attend the activities fair, said Bogusz, a Weinberg junior.

“Every dorm where freshmen live, last night met an ExComm Committee member,” Bogusz said.

Student groups were stationed on the first and second floors of Norris University Center, and under a tent outside. At NU Radio Drama’s table, an iPod blared an episode of the group’s show. About two hours after the fair started, the group had a couple dozen students signed up for auditions. Many performance groups had students commit to auditions instead of signing up on their e-mail list databases.

“If they sign up for a listserv, people just write down a fake name and grab candy,” said NU Radio Drama’s Luke Adams, a Weinberg sophomore.

Weinberg freshman Elizabeth Wilson signed up for auditions for a couple of improv groups including NSTV. She said she only put her name on a few lists.

“I don’t know how my classes are going to be and I have a work-study job,” she said. “I don’t know if I have time (for more groups).”

Josh Urich, a Weinberg senior who was passing out green tea for the NU Zen Society, said the group had gone through two or three pots of tea in about 40 minutes.

Upwards of 70 people signed up for the Zen Society’s e-mail list. Urich said about 10 might show up to the group’s meditation meetings, but the group would put everyone who signed up on its e-mail list.

“People come in halfway through the year and they say ‘I’ve been getting these e-mails all year and I’ve finally decided (to come),'” Urich said.

For many groups, the Activities Fair was just the latest event in a beginning-of-school push to recruit freshmen. The Chinese Students Association held events celebrating Chinese holidays during New Student Week and recruited many freshmen there, said External President Yvonne Man, a Medill junior. She said her the cultural association is mostly made up of students of Chinese descent, but its members are hoping to make their group more diverse.

“There’s people that have never done the CSA thing, but they come to these events (like activity fairs) and they’re intrigued about what we do,” she said.

Trina McGee, a Communication freshman, said it was nice to have all the groups in one place.

She said she put her name on seven or eight lists and planned on following up with a few of them.

“I know there’s people who are like, ‘I put my name on 25 different lists,’ ” she said.

Reach Diana Samuels at [email protected].