By Kelly Lewis
The Office of Student Engagement will be holding its first virtual activities fair for students from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. today.
Director of Student Engagement Stephen Pagios, said the activities fair’s goal remains the same: to give students a chance to find new ways to get involved on campus.
“I was a student leader in college, and I didn’t get involved until the spring,” Pagios said. “So, I try to think if I didn’t have something like this in my spring would I have not gotten involved until my
sophomore year or later?”
This past semester the fall activities fair was held outdoors with students practicing social distancing. The decision to host this semester’s activities fair virtually was made in December in accordance with capacity limits imposed by the state.
“We ended up working with IT to develop a platform on MyHill to provide an opportunity for students to connect with clubs, obviously not the same as in-person, but I absolutely think that is better than doing nothing at all,” Pagios said.
All clubs and student organizations that can attend the fair will have an online page with a description, contact information, and a live Zoom link.
Pagios said having patience will be a key factor in the success of the upcoming virtual activities fair.
“With everything new that we are experiencing over this past year, this is one more new thing that I think we all just need to have that patience and open mind for,” Pagios said.
Stonehill March For Our Lives, a chapter of the national organization created to support legislation and action to prevent gun violence in the United States, will be one of 60 plus clubs and organizations attending the activities fair.
President of the club Katelyn Samios said she is looking forward to the fair, hoping to gain new members.
“I think having a virtual fair is awesome because it allows remote students to still be a part of campus life,” Samios said.
President of Her Campus Chapter, Erin Sousa, said students interested in writing or being part of a supportive and creative community can talk to her at the activities fair.
“One of the only challenges that I see our club facing with a virtual fair is that having prospective members meet with current members over Zoom may feel a bit more nerve-wracking than it would by casually meeting in-person,” Sousa said.
For students who are hesitant or may not have time to virtually attend the activities fair there are other options.
“We have a list on our website with all of our clubs and contact information,” Pagios said.
“Students can stop by our Office of Student Engagement and we are more than happy to sit down, have that one-on-one conversation of what they are interested in, and the clubs that might tailor to that”
If for any reason, students experience technical difficulties or have questions during the fair, there will be a Zoom link to the Office of Student Engagement.
The list of all clubs and organizations can be found at this link: https://www.stonehill.edu/connect-with-community/clubs-organizations/
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