MONICA MANNEY
Special to The Leader
Every year, Activities Night sees over 170 clubs collect thousands of signatures. But this year, with the biggest and most diverse incoming class of first year students, some major changes swept the grass of Dods Grove.
Students who attended Activities Night had the chance to “network on the go” as employers surrounded the entrance of this year’s club line up.
Network on the Go was created by the career development office’s Jennifer Wilkins to get students to learn about employment options and possible internship locations in and around Fredonia.
“The employees love it, they seem phenomenally happy,” said Wilkins. “President Horvath liked it and was shaking my hand. She said she’s going to put a kudos in her Monday report.”
But the meet and greet was not only beneficial for the students.
“We have internships and jobs available. We have been very productive,” said Kandace Baxter, one of the employers at the fair.
Other employers expressed the importance of students knowing that although Fredonia is not big, there are plenty of opportunities to work in their field in the area.
From insurance companies to agricultural companies, the mini job fair offered students the ability to get their resume into the hands of future employers and seek new opportunities at internships.
After students passed the row of employers handing company gear, they could find a host of clubs focused on diversity. But they would also find Fredonia’s first Latinx geared club.
“Technically we were at Activities Night last year . . . but because we were just starting off as a club and we were not actually on the campus yet
. . . it was hard to do recruitment,” said Eden Bantum, one of the founders of the fraternity.
Alpha Psi Lambda is recognized as the first co-ed social fraternity in the country and the first fraternity geared toward Latinx communities in Fredonia.
Bantum said the goal of their fraternity right now is recruitment and to build comfortability for the new diverse population on campus, as she expressed there was a lack thereof.
“Diversifying Greek life [is important] because at least the fraternities are diverse, but on the sororities end, not as much,” said Bantum. “Joining Greek life is all about where you feel most comfortable. It’s kind of hard to do that when you have a very select few organizations to look at.”
Bantum expressed concern with the decreased amount of participation in Greek life and hopes Alpha Psi Lambda will revamp interest in fraternities.
“I don’t know if it has to do with how sororities represent themselves outside of the campus, or if people are not interested in greek life anymore because of all the hazing incidents nationally . . . we just want people interested in Greek life,” said Bantum.
Alpha Psi Lambda is currently working toward being recognized at Fredonia as a fraternity and recognized nationally as a chapter. For now, they are recognized nationally as an affiliate but are working hard to gain chapter status.
If you are considering pledging, there is one thing Bantum thinks everyone should know:
“At least for us, that whole cliché concept of finding a brotherhood and sisterhood and finding a family is our most important aspect, it’s not a cliché with us.”
If you missed activities night, no worries. A full listing of all the clubs and who to email can be found on Fredonia’s website.