Clubs filled the court and concourses at Gampel Pavilion at the University of Connecticut as Student Activities hosted its Spring 2026 Involvement Fair on Wednesday, Feb. 4.
Hundreds of clubs and organizations were given the opportunity to pitch themselves to UConn students from 1 to 6 p.m. to spread awareness and grow participation.
“The fairs like this give us a chance to really meet a larger variety of people than we normally would,” said Blake Susman, a fourth-semester student and a member of the UConn Costume Club.
Susman brought a B-01 tactical helmet from “Helldivers 2” that he created at the UConn Makerspace as part of the club, while Club President Sebastian Coello brought a prop chainsaw that he built.
As the second involvement fair of the year, the spring semester event also offers the opportunity to students coming to UConn for the first time during the second semester with an initial up-close look at many of UConn’s extracurricular activities.
“Our club, we have the first involvement fair and then it’s hard to do outreach, but these events, especially the one the second semester, let us interact with the transfer students who might have missed that first involvement fair,” said Ryan Le Vine, a fifth-semester student and a member of the UConn Outing Club.
The Outing Club’s table was active throughout the fair, as was the Club Sports section located close by.
“Water polo is not the first sport that comes up on Google when you look up ‘sports,’” said Marko Katra, a fourth-semester student and a member of the club water polo team. “It’s definitely great to reach out to people and see if they’re interested in something that’s often really new for them.”
Katra and his teammates passed around a ball, sometimes over the crowd, while both the men’s and women’s club rugby teams did the same.
The floor of Gampel was packed tightly between the rows of tables by attendees, causing backups and offering an additional challenge to clubs presenting their pitch.
“I think it’s a lot harder to interact with people because we’re all kind of punched in together and people are trying to get here and not get bumped behind them,” said Riley D’Amuto, an eighth-semester student and a member of mental health club Active Minds. “I think it makes us be quicker in our approach because we don’t want to just get caught and cause like a roadblock.”
Sarah Bernhardt, the coordinator for student organization support for UConn Student Activities, says that being inside has both its pros and cons.
“I think some challenges here, being inside, it’s a fixed space, so we are quite limited on the amount of tables we can provide in here,” Bernhardt said. “We had to have a wait list this year because we had so many applicants, but not enough places to put them. Especially with the Gampel renovations too, that did cut us down a little bit on the amount of tables we were able to provide. In the end, it all worked out, so I’m grateful for that.”
Bernhardt also mentioned having to have security for Gampel events and the increased line to get inside as limitations.
Despite these drawbacks, Bernhardt said that she finds the flow of the event to be an improvement when compared to the fall semester fair, describing it as “a nice snake-like flow.” She also said hopes students find it cool to be inside Gampel for a reason other than sports.
“The fact that they get to see the space [as] multipurpose and get to see it in another light, I think is cool,” Bernhardt said. “The fact that it can transform from a fair like this and within this weekend can be an arena for a game I think is really cool.”
Bernhardt also mentioned that being able to use the video boards added to Gampel prior to the 2024 basketball season is a plus. The event also serves as a way for Student Activities to be present in the minds of students.
”I think it helps it definitely helps increase our visibility,” Bernhardt said.