Student Involvment Fair encourages participation in campus life

UW Tacoma celebrated the start of winter quarter with the Stu­dent Involvement Fair, which featured over 50 registered student organizations. The fair — organized by the Center for Student Involvement — was held Jan. 9 in William W. Phil­ip Hall from noon–1:20 p.m. Students were able to browse the booths, take a photo with UW’s live husky mascot Dubs II and learn about countless op­portunities on campus.

“The fair is a way for student orga­nizations to recruit new membership and for students to find new ways to be involved on campus,” Keah Thomas, the RSO Student Coordinator, said. “Students will hopefully find a student [organization] that they like and will follow up to join. Joining clubs on cam­pus is a vital way to give students the best college experience possible.”

Once the booths were set up, stu­dents entered through all doors to learn more about the many different organi­zations and opportunities available to them. The fair included free food and upbeat music. Additionally, students had the opportunity to meet and take pictures with Dubs II.

During the fair, one organization — the Somali Student Association — stated that it valued making new UWT students feel welcomed and safe on campus.

“A lot of the Somalis that come to UW Tacoma either don’t know their classes or don’t know any other So­malis so it is just good to meet or con­nect with someone from your back­ground…” Amal Ahmed, Vice President of SSA, said. “The purpose… is [to] come together as a Somali commu­nity … and just connect. We have other clubs that come to our meetings, speakers that are alumnus that come to our meeting and just talk about their experience as a minority in UW Tacoma so no one is left alone.”

Also present at the fair was the UW Tacoma library staff with their booth to notify students about new resources.

“We provide so many resources and we are one of the biggest connections you have to the whole University of Washington,” Megan Saunders, the Electronic Resources Service Desk Technician, said. “We are one library, three campuses. So you get the whole of all of the information available through Seattle and Bothell and Ta­coma. We are also making sure people know about our new expanded late night hours. We are open later than we have ever been before. We are open until midnight on Monday through Tahursday and Sundays until nine.”

Another booth aiming to keep the campus thriving and enjoyable for ev­eryone was the Student Activities Board.

“We are here to talk to students about what they want to see on campus related to events,” Angeline Jimenez, Recreation Wellness Coordinator, said. “We are out here letting people know about our events coming up but also if they want to talk to us about what we are… we are open to talk to them.”

The event was filled with many staff and faculty members, ready to help improve the experiences of all UWT students and to let them know that they have many people to support them here on campus.

“Many students have said that be­ing a part of a club allows them to perform better in classes and feel val­ued,” Thomas said. “They have also said that they feel more confident on campus knowing that they are a part of something bigger and more per­sonal to themselves. Students learn valuable skills that can’t always be learned in a classroom; skills that of­ten times, employers and grad schools want to see in students. I always strongly urge all students to be in­volved on campus in some way shape or form. The reward is amazing and truly irreplaceable.”

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For more information visit the Center for Student Involvement website.
tacoma.uw.edu/involvement/rso

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