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Friday, March 29, 2024
The Observer

University hosts activities night to help new students become more involved

Over 450 student clubs, organizations and campus partners gathered in the Notre Dame Stadium concourse Tuesday night to offer new students the opportunity to become more involved in activities on and off campus.

Activities night, an annual event hosted by the Student Activities Office (SAO), is a chance for old groups to recruit new members and new clubs to inform students about the organization. Senior Emily Sedlacek, co-president of the Media Industry Club, said she was excited to use the event as a forum to advertise her new club.

“This is our first official time at the activities fair, so it’s exciting for us to be here and kind of share our new club mission with Notre Dame students,” Sedlacek said.

Students sign up for club email lists at the  activities night. The event, which was sponsored by the Student Activities Office featured over 450 clubs.
Annie Smierciak| The Observer
Students sign up for club email lists at the activities night. The event, which was sponsored by the Student Activities Office featured over 450 clubs.


Already-established groups hope to attract students by presenting the best opportunities their groups have to offer. Senior and co-captain of Notre Dame men’s boxing Patrick Lawler said the group intentionally brought two students who have traveled to Bangladesh to experience the service aspect of the group at the event.

“We have two guys here who actually went on the [international summer service learning] trip to Bangladesh, so we’re really trying to put our best foot forward to let the guys who are interested in the club know what we’re trying to do, and what we actually do,” Lawler said.

In addition to student clubs and organizations on campus, Devon Sanchez-Ossorio, assistant director of student activities, said SAO invites other campus partners to speak to students at activities night.

“There are community partners, as well as campus partners, that we do have, that we invite as well,” he said. “So there are a few tables that we dedicate strictly to those groups so that we can utilize the student base that we have to do good within our community, as well as on our campus.”

For some of these partners, disseminating information can be just as valuable as raising membership can be for clubs, senior Tommy Yemc — who represented the Career Center at activities night — said.

We’re one of the campus partners, so we are here really just as a knowledge resource — we’re not an activity, per se,” he said. “We don’t have sign-up sheets, we don’t have people sign up for our services. We’re more of an informative experience for mostly freshman, because mostly freshman come to this thing. … We talk about what we do, we talk about all the different services we offer as the Career Center.”

Sedlacek said the event opens students up to groups they may not have considered prior to encountering their tables at activities night.

“It’s kind of essential for us, because although we are affiliated with [Film, Television and Theatre], we want our club to be open to all majors and all grades,” she said. “ … So we’re hoping that this event will kind of appeal to people.”