Fans of Pokémon GO, beekeeping, and Harry Styles came together on Wednesday, Sept. 3 as clubs focusing on those interests and more were featured at the University of Connecticut’s annual Involvement Fair.
The fair, put on by UConn Student Activities, saw Fairfield Way lined with hundreds of tables and posterboards from the 500-plus clubs registered for the event. Club representatives and students attending the fair looked to tents and umbrellas to block out the sun, but the warm weather did nothing to limit the turnout. The street was packed shoulder to shoulder as students made their way around the fair.
The clubs were arranged by category. These categories included academic, environment and agriculture, sports and gaming, student governance, and more. With so many featured clubs, organizations had to get creative with finding ways to attract the attention of potential new members.
Some clubs enticed students by offering free food. Many gave out candy such as Dum Dums or Jolly Ranchers. The Red Cross Club had a cooler full of ice pops. Different international clubs had food and candy from the region they were representing. The Latinos 4 Change club offered a donut to anyone who agreed to follow them on Instagram.
Other clubs, especially motorsports organizations, took the route of trying to catch people’s attention visually. The UConn Car Club had a BMW and an Infiniti on display. The UConn Formula SAE took a similar approach, displaying multiple vehicles that they themselves had built in front of their table. The UConn Motorcycle Club caught the attention of passersby by revving the engines of multiple motorbikes.
With so many people crowding Fairfield Way, some clubs chose to use height as an advantage to draw attention. The UConn Men’s Crew team used a long oar with a QR code stuck on the front to go above the crowd. Many clubs by the Rowe Center for Undergraduate Education stood on top of a small wall to be seen better. A member of the Costume Club held a sword that stood over six feet tall.
One of the busiest tables at the event was the Concrete Canoe Association. Each year, the club constructs a canoe out of concrete that they eventually race in an interscholastic competition in April. Amelia Martin, who is the graduate advisor for the club, stressed that inclusivity is an important focus for the club.
“We don’t discriminate based off of major,” Martin said. “You don’t have to be an engineer to join the engineering club. We have freshmen doing all of the activities off the bat with everyone.” Martin added that there are no dues to join the club, noting that she believed these qualities were a big reason why so many students were interested in learning more.
“We just want to have more members,” Martin said. “A lot of people don’t know that we exist.” Martin added that a main goal of the club is to allow people to have as much fun as possible. The club also had a small replica of the canoe that they will build on display as a visual aid.
In addition to academic organizations, the fair also featured clubs tailored to special interests. Included amongst these were the Cheese Club, Steak Club, Garfield Club and Rubix Cube Club. Avery Hogrefe, a computer science engineering major who is entering his seventh semester at UConn, was at the fair representing the Bad Movie Club.
“We find the worst movies we can and make fun of them. It’s just fun,” Hogrefe said, who joined the club in his first semester of freshman year.
“I think these clubs are a good way to have fun,” Hogrefe said, adding that his club was a good way to get exposed to new things that may not be found elsewhere on campus.
Editor’s Note: This digital article has been updated as of noon on Sept. 4 to match copy edits made in the print edition.