unionsnews

September 14th, 2012

Fall Student Org Day

The UREC Lower Turf was fed by a constant stream of fired up JMU students on Student Organizations Day hosted by Colleges Against Cancer and the Office of Student Activities and Involvement on September 7th from 2pm-5pm.  Despite the rescheduling, the usual crowd of curious students and enthusiastic clubs resurfaced with a vengeance.

“I’m finding out that there are a lot of different groups that I’m interested in here,” reports freshman commuter Sydney Moss. “I just checked out the Young Democratic group; I didn’t really know that there were that many people like that here that felt the same way as I did about my political standpoint because it honestly doesn’t feel like that in Harrisonburg.”

Many freshmen, like Moss, were surprised by the sheer number and types of clubs present, from the more unique, eccentric clubs to the traditional and widely known. “It’s exciting that there’s this many organizations wanting new people in their groups,” said Moss.

Resting on one end of the line of clubs was the JMU Improv group that reported receiving a good amount of interested students. Senior member and Information Analysis major Ryan Platt said, “People usually search us out because they’re interested. So when someone comes they’re not like, ‘Oh, what is this?’, they pretty much know and they want to audition.”

On the other end of the spectrum was the American Medical Student Association, a club that was focusing on attracting and advertising to underclassman through events like Student Org Night. “We’ve been targeting a lot of freshmen this year at orientation and pre-med assemblies,” said senior Biology major and President of the club, Marlena Daly.

The hundreds of clubs JMU offers provide a convenient outlet for current students. Interests can span from the serious to the playful, for your resume or just for fun. Matthew Chinen, a senior International Affairs major, explained, “There are more than just academics, it’s important to get involved in campus [organizations], and it’s also a great way to meet more people.” 

If you missed out on this fall’s Student Org Day, then be on the lookout for details on spring semester’s Student Org Night that will occur in January.