Both new and returning students gathered on the South Lawn and in the Amphitheater Monday to sign up for and represent hundreds of the Contracted Independent Organizations available at the University. Two-hundred seventy tables were set up in rows across the two green spaces organized into categories ranging from public service and political advocacy to religious and spiritual groups and club sports.
“I don’t think people who haven’t been here before have any idea of how many student organizations there are,” University President Teresa Sullivan said in an interview with The Cavalier Daily. “It just gives you an idea of the wide variety — there’s really something for everybody here.”
The event is run by Student Council and raises funds for its advocacy work and projects around Grounds, said Ty Zirkle, Student Council vice president for student organizations and a third-year College student.
Spots are only available to groups affiliated with the University, such as academic departments, or organizations officially recognized by the University, such as CIOs. Registration for the fair, which was done online for the first time this year, began in April. The link to register was sent out on a rolling basis as Student Council verified each CIO’s official status.
“Unfortunately other student groups can’t go just because we have so many interested groups and very limited space in general,” Zirkle said.
The event can be appear overwhelming as students, tables, signs and posters crowd the space, but there was an evident air of excitement and school spirit.
“It’s a lot more than I expected,” first-year College student Emmanuel Edu said. “There’s so many religious groups, sports clubs, singing groups — the amount of singing groups is crazy, like it’s actually amazing.”
Edu said his high school offered many clubs but he kept his options open for groups to join at the University.
“Since there’s more freedom in college, I wanted to just explore anything,” Edu said. “I didn’t have one thing in mind.”
First-year College student Sarah Weisflog said she heard many students at the University participate in student-led groups and wanted to see the extent of involvement herself.
“I was interested in seeing all the clubs because people always talk about how everybody here gets involved,” Weisflog said. “It was interesting for me to see actually how many clubs and there are a lot of clubs.”
Sullivan said she advises new students to take in all of the information the activities fair has to offer and not over-involve themselves.
“They can get a lot of information, they don’t have to sign up for everything that looks interesting,” Sullivan said. “They don’t have to make the decision today to sign up, they can think about it later on and I recommend varying it a little bit.”
This year Student Council rebranded the activities fair with a unified theme — “Find Your Home.” It’s a pun on the Homer statue, Zirkle said, which is located in the center of the South Lawn where many of the tables are set up.
While first-year students are the top demographic to whom the activities fair appeals, Zirkle said Student Council sought to reach out to all students.
“We tried to increase the outreach this year to beyond your typical incoming first-year students, which of course is great, it fits perfectly into Welcome Week,” Zirkle said. “We really tried to bump up marketing this year.”
Third-year College students Rachel Abrams and Sydney Bradley both attended the fair to manage tables for CIOs they already belong to, but they also signed up for new ones.
“There are always new things that are happening,” Abrams said. “I feel like I missed out as a first-year, so now I have a better understanding of Grounds and can sign up.”
Bradley said maintaining an open mind is key to finding homes in student organizations at the University.
“If you come in with ‘I want to do this’ you’ll get kind of lost in your path and not actually expand your horizons,” Bradley said.
Abrams said new students should keep things in perspective and have confidence in their abilities.
“Don’t be intimidated by the applications and stuff. I know that’s kind of a joke that you have to apply for every CIO,” Abrams said. “But you can do it, you’re valuable and worth things too.”
Sullivan said she finds the activities fair highlights one of the University’s main foundations — student self-governance.
“U.Va. students are joiners, that’s part of self governance. They find a lot of things here that they want to do, that’s part of what makes it special,” Sullivan said.
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