Freshmen watched salsa dancers and Frisbee games and ate challah bread Monday at the Associated Student Government Fall Activities Fair.
The fair, organized by the Student Groups Committee, boasted over 230 student groups, up from the 200 that were admitted into the fair last year.
Besides adding more groups, Student Groups Vice President Lauren Masterson said the committee focused on being organized this year as well as expanding the fair to all floors of the Norris University Center. Coordinators also printed maps on one sheet of paper instead of handing out activity booklets in order to save paper.
“I think it’s a great introduction to Northwestern,” the Weinberg junior said. “(Freshmen) can explore their interests.”
On each map, extracurricular activities were grouped into ten categories, including academic, advocacy, media, entertainment, and religiously affiliated. Each category was color coded corresponding to a specific room in Norris.
According to Masterson, the fair is not only for freshmen. She said people are joining student groups every year, and the fair is a great way for student group leaders to meet.
For Weinberg freshman Emily Kuhn, the fair was helpful in showing her all the options for campus involvement.
“I liked hearing from all the club leaders because they’re all so enthusiastic and they’re all really excited to get me involved,” Kuhn said.
However, some freshmen said aspects of the event could have been improved, such as crowd control and the use of space.
One of the biggest complaints was the overwhelming nature of the number of clubs and their eagerness to recruit.
Communication freshman Lily Smith said she encountered a lot of people yelling, ‘Here, take this.’
“I like the groups that ask first are you interested in this instead of giving you the spiel,” Smith said. She also said the event involves so much paper that will most likely get wasted at the end.
“It was really hectic,” she added.
For student leaders, the fair is an opportunity to build memberships to have better events. Weinberg senior Mavara Agha, a co-director of the Global Engagement Summit, said it’s important to have a lot of representation from each group when recruiting new members.
“I think it’s just a matter of reaching out to people who don’t know where to begin,” Agha said.
