NIKKI INDELICATO
Staff Writer
The sounds of students enamored Dod’s Grove Wednesday, Sept. 3.
Clubs gathered around with the hopes of getting to share their common interests with some new prospective students and members.
Students could be spotted promoting their clubs with cow bells, posters and music at their tables.
After a year of having events and meetings virtual, there was a sense of relief when everyone got to join together in-person once again.
For many college students, clubs offer a sense of community and belonging, which has been missed over the past year.
You could see the excitement coming from every student that gathered in Dod’s Grove looking for the perfect group to join.
“It was amazing seeing all the students out at Activities Night. It is definitely something that I missed,” said Kathryn Sayler, a senior public relations major.
Over the previous academic year, Activities Night was held over Zoom.
“Lots of freshmen want to put themselves out there, but it’s hard to do over Zoom,” said Elizabeth Shearer, senior communication disorders and sciences major.
There were an estimated 1,500 students that showed up Wednesday night.
With Fredonia offering over 170 clubs, there is a group on campus for any area of interest that a student could have.
SUNY Fredonia features a number of music groups like Premium Blend and Noteworthy, and art clubs like Animation and Illustration and Artist Alliance.
Athletics groups include Black Horse Rugby, Enfusion Dance Team and Ultimate Frisbee along with many more.
Groups like Caribbean Student Association, EnFusion, Latinos Unidos and numerou others celebrate the diversity of our school.
All clubs and organizations started seeing an increase in interaction from students in an attempt to join for the semester.
“In-person events will be a great way to bring students back in. It can show them what these clubs they’ve been hearing about are all about,” said Sayler.
Throughout the 2020-2021 academic year, most of the groups had to hold their semesterly events virtually in efforts to keep each other and everyone safe.
It made it more difficult for students to really see what every group has to offer and be welcomed into the environment of them.
“Last semester it proved very difficult and we really had to rely on our friends and acquaintances to spread the word and to find others to join. This semester it was really easy to see people and to find people interested,” said Hailey Harding, senior criminal justice major.
Even though last year proved difficult to bring in new members for the on campus clubs, things are starting to look a bit brighter now that we can all gather together in-person again.
