By MacKenzie Brady
Student Life Editor
On Friday, Sept 6, from 11
a.m. to 3 p.m., Club Fair will be in Martha Washington Square and a portion of the Cater Walk, where over 50 clubs will be represented at various tables.
The annual Club Fair is as an opportunity for students to interact with all of Washington College’s clubs and begin getting involved with on-campus organizations.
With a range of clubs that serve different functions—including those for leadership, service, sports, career development and more—there is something to appeal to everyone.
Caitlyn Creasy, vice president of the Student Government Association, is in charge of planning this year’s Club Fair. Her advice to students that will be attending Club Fair for the first time, is to look around first before signing up for anything.
“Do a walkthrough, then go to tables. Seeing all the clubs then deciding to sign up is better than over indulging,” Creasy said.
Get an understanding for what is available and decide what is most interesting to avoid signing up for everything. Doing a walk-through before signing up is also a way for students to prevent themselves from getting overwhelmed by the number of clubs, and people, in attendance. For any students who are skeptical about attending club fair, “Still come. You might find something you didn’t know existed,” Creasy said.
Creasy also had advice for clubs and executive boards who will be running tables at Club Fair.
“Don’t be overwhelming. [Prospective club members] will feel forced to sign up. You don’t want members who felt forced,” she said.
Creasy advised that clubs do more than just provide a sign-up sheet at their table, “put effort into it—it’ll go a long way,” she said.
Another tool for recruitment, “Remember why your club exists and why you do it. [Prospective club members] care about why you do it, not why they should. They’ll see your passion and want to sign up,” Creasy said.
Creasy hopes clubs will point students in the direction of other clubs they may be interested in joining. “Do what you want to do even if it’s not what we do,” she said about encouraging students to join the clubs that most closely align with their interests.
While Creasy did not have a final layout of table locations at the time of the interview, she speculated that similar clubs would most likely have tables close to one another.
Club Fair is not just meant for freshmen to get them involved on campus. “I want upperclassmen to get involved if they haven’t,” Creasy said.
Club Fair also provides an opportunity to see which clubs are still active and to discover new clubs that have not been around as long.
Creasy assured that, rain or shine, Club Fair would take place on September 6. Should it rain, or be too hot, Club Fair will be located in the JFC.