Student involvement is a huge concern for nearly all universities, but Lakeland’s recent Spring Involvement Fair has raised questions in my mind as to whether students are really passionate about anything.
Plenty of students came to Bossard Hall on Jan. 17 between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. to eat lunch, make purchases from the Muskie Mart, and socialize. However, very few students came to Bossard Hall at that time to check out the 19 different organizations that were represented at the Spring Involvement Fair that day.
The booths students had set up for their organizations varied from simple tables with sign-up sheets to the intricate structure built out of color-changing plastic cups that LC-CAB (Lakeland College Campus Activities Board) designed on their table to attract new members.
Surely plenty of students who happened to be in the cafeteria at that time noticed the various tables set up around the perimeter of the room with signs labeling which student organization was where.
However, it was amazing to behold how very few people actually took a moment to learn more about the organizations. Most students were too absorbed in their conversations and lunches to participate in this semester’s Involvement Fair.
Even LC-CAB—with their dramatic display—failed to attract many students to their table until they created a sign that read, “FREE CUPS!”
Irvin Colon, a sophomore manning the Student Association table, expressed his disappointment at the lack of names on the group’s sign-up sheet. “Last year, it wasn’t this way,” said Colon.
Daniel Zea, a freshman currently involved in Student Association and Spanish Club, attended the Spring Involvement Fair. He stated, “I saw that no one was really going up to the tables, so I thought I’d go around and see what each organization was about.”
Zea also said he was “pretty interested in what’s going on.” If only all students were just as interested, perhaps the results of the Involvement Fair would have been a little more promising.
According to Director of Student Activities Kaye Martin, having nineteen student groups there was a pretty good turnout for the Spring semester. However, Martin did note that, “a lot of student organizations aren’t going out there and recruiting as much as they could.”
The number of students that actually signed up to receive more information about the various organizations is less impressive. An average of less than three people signed up at each organization’s table. Several of the organizations did not collect any names at all. Martin explained that the Spring Involvement fair is always sparsely attended.
Martin also said that a lot of institutions have similar student involvement situations to Lakeland’s. She believes that there are just some students who are not passionate about anything in particular. “Sometimes you just wish they could get little fires under their butts and get passionate about something,” Martin said comically.
Martin has had enough years of experience with her position to see how things work from year to year in regards to how involved students are willing to be. She noted that the freshman class two years ago was very difficult to get involved. The freshmen class one year ago, on the other hand, was very willing to jump in and try out different student organizations.
Martin finds that, in general, this year’s freshman class is again having a hard time becoming involved. She suspects that this may be because some students simply don’t see that they have any needs outside of their dorm room.
There are 38 recognized student groups on campus in total. Martin has noticed that the number of students involved in a particular group can fluctuate greatly from year to year. “If they aren’t excited,” she says, “they just won’t come.”