This past Thursday, 102 student organizations and almost 900 students gathered in Lyons for the second semester Student Fair. Students at the fair were greeted with information about a wide variety of student-run organizations, including performance groups, pre-professional clubs, international clubs, service clubs, and more.
Adrienne Dumpe of the student programs office (SPO) and Ricky Knapp, vice president of the Division of Student Organizations and A&S ’14, were at the forefront in organizing the fair. “[The Division of Student Organizations] acts as an advocate and resource for all student organizations on campus,” Knapp said. His main goal was to help connect the many student clubs to the student body, and the Student Activities Fair plays a crucial role in this connection. Knapp mainly worked on advertising the fair to freshman and transfer students, but any Boston College student was welcome.
Representing their heritages at the fair were culture groups like the Hawaii Club, Asian Caucus, Taiwanese Cultural Organization, Japan Club, and Brazilian Club, among others. Various a cappella groups like the Acoustics, Shaan, Voices of Imani, Beats, and the Bostonians were also present.
Comedy groups like Hello … Shovelhead! and the Committee for Creative Enactments (CCE) also made appearances at the fair. The CCE, a murder mystery and improv comedy group on campus, does not make any cuts during auditions and is committed to welcoming all lovers of comedy.
Students looking to join pre-professional clubs were welcomed with a selection of groups including AHANA Pre-Law Association, Bellarmine Pre-Law Society, Marketing Academy, Math Society, Finance Academy, Pre-Dental Society, and others.
Pre-Law Society member Chris Marchese, A&S ’15, said that Bellarmine strives to ignite a passion for law. “We connect undergraduate students to resources to discover if they want to go into law,” he said.
Service groups like charity: water were also present at the fair. charity: water is a global organization that raises money to solve water crises. Last year the group raised money to build sanitation wells in India, and it continues to fund water projects in developing countries throughout the world.
BC Reads, another service group, works toward promoting literacy in the greater Boston area.
AIDS Awareness Committee is a new service group on campus that seeks to spread awareness about the social and medical issues tied to HIV/AIDS. Currently, it is in the process of putting together a benefit concert and is looking to bring in speakers to discuss various public health and social issues related to AIDS.
The Student Marshall Arts Club (SMAC), another new organization on campus, is dedicated to providing students with Muay Thai, Tae Kwon Do, and GoJu-Ryu classes throughout the semester. Member Zach DiCostanzo, A&S ’15, said that the club is looking to expand and to bring in more professional instructors like the Brazilian jiu-jitsu instructor from Cambridge they had last year.
Among the political clubs on campus are the College Democrats of Boston College, Boston College Republicans, and No Labels. No Labels is a bipartisan political club that aims to demonstrate the danger of polarization in politics. “It’s easier to say you’re a Democrat or Republican because there are more values assigned to each side,” said member Cole Rabinowitz, A&S ’14. “But more people are actually moderate.”
