Matt Hewitt, Ad Editor
Tuesday, Sep. 11 featured the Student Activities Fair for the 2012 fall semester. For students that were looking to become a part of a club or organization, there were tables upon tables lined up outside the Student Activities Building and the Student Community Center, with members from each club willing to share their opinions on why it would be a good decision to join their organization.
The week before the Greek organizations have their official fall recruitment, almost all of the sororities and fraternities had a “brag table” set up at the fair. These tables boasted about the benefits of joining their organization, as well as handed out pamphlets that highlighted their history and tradition. There are currently six fraternities on campus, as well as four sororities and one colony.
“Having a table at the activities fair gets our name out to the public. It lets students at Saint Leo get to know more about us and we get to see who would be interested in joining our fraternity” said Winston Hawkins, a Tau Kappa Epsilon member that took part in the activities fair.
Along with the sororities and fraternities, students could check out the tables of other clubs, including the Social Work club, the Communications Management club, Samaritans, and several more. Some tables, like the ones occupied by the multicultural organizations, featured native music, while others, like some of the department and professional organizations, featured giveaways to lure potential students to hear their pitch. The fair contained over twenty clubs or organizations of different interests and benefits, a testament to the diversity of the Saint Leo University students.
“It’s always great to see the wide variety of clubs and organizations Saint Leo has to offer. It’s even better once you realize that all of these organizations were started by students to fill a need; and if students want to create a new club, all they have to do is put in a little work” said Corey DeHate, who attended the fair on Tuesday.
If a student couldn’t find a suitable club, they are encouraged to start their own club that interests them. In order to become a Student Government recognized club or organization, each new club is required to undergo a strict registration and institution process.
Under the new Student Government Union constitution that was passed last academic year, it is mandated that all clubs must be approved by the student Senate with a vote of two-thirds approval. Once the club is passed through the senate, they must then present to the President’s Council, which is a governing body that is made up of the presidents of each organization. In order to be passed through both governing bodies, the new club must be open to all students, exemplify the core values of the university, and benefit the students of the university in some way. Almost all of the clubs that participated in the Student Activities Fair last Tuesday had previously undergone this process and are now organizations that are recognized by the Student Government Union, however, some clubs can be recognized by the university without being recognized by the SGU.
