If you are a little bored with campus life, and if you want to get more involved either on or off campus, Longwood students were given the opportunity to attend the Involvement Fair on Feb. 8 from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. in the Lankford Student Union Ballroom and ABC rooms. Attending the event were various campus clubs, organiza tions, sororities and fraternities along with companies looking for ward to accepting volunteers from interested Longwood students.
The various available opportunities to students at the fair includ ed, but were not limited to, Club Baseball History, Fishing Club, Public History Club, Meals on Wheels, the Make-a-Wish Founda tion, Holistic Moms and the Longwood Center for the Visual Arts.
Susan Degnan, vice president of PRIDE, was also available to talk to students at the event. "We are a brand new organization, so we're trying to get as much sort of recruitment – bringing people in as much as possible as we get to support our cause, which is obviously the LGBT community."
She added that there tends to be a very good amount of interest gained by events like the Involvement Fair, causing attendance in club meetings to grow exponentially, saying, "We typically have a really good turnout at these events."
Not only presenting the club itself at the Involvement Fair, Degnan also intended to share how PRIDE is improving itself as an organi zation to interested students. "We have this new feature called ‘Talk Time' where we have discussions. We're hoping that's going to help build a community where you feel you know the people, you can talk to them and it's a lot more open and friendly than it has been before," she said.
If interested in becoming a part of PRIDE, feel free to attend club meetings on Wednesdays at 7 p.m. in room 115 of Ruffner Hall.
The Women's Rugby team was also available for the Involvement Fair in an attempt to recruit new, interested members. Victoria Car penter, a rookie of the rugby team, said the hope of attending the event was "to get our name out there. To get more people to join."
Carpenter commented that she had never played rugby before joining Longwood's team, though she did play powderpuff football in high school. "I never really played a sport in high school at all," she said, adding that sports like football did interest her.
Carpenter added, "I didn't know anything about it when I started, but it was lots of fun when I joined."
If interested in becoming a part of Women's Rugby, Carpenter said, "You gotta be a team player, but you also have to be a leader kinda at the same time because you have to know what you're do ing on the field and be strong with what you're doing."
Applications for Women's Rugby are accepted throughout the year from any interested student with any level of experience. Practices are from Tuesday to Thursday from 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. on First Avenue.
Hanna Watson, who handles public relations for the Student Vir ginia Education Association (SVEA), was available for information on her organization, citing the purpose of the organization as edu cation. She added that the SVEA holds monthly workshops with guest speakers to educate students on different topics.
Watson said, "It's just a really good way to have people come and be interested if they didn't know about it. I know we advertise re ally well, but I know that some people just don't see it or are walk ing by."
Attending the SVEA "helps keep your love for teaching alive," said Watson.
If interested in joining the SVEA, look for their Longwood chapter on Facebook or look at the bulletin board on second floor Hull.
Child, Housing and Community Outreach Coordinator Mary Winn attended the event on behalf of Madeline's House, a non-profit organization dedicated to assist "individuals and families ex periencing domestic and sexual abuse," as stated on the Madeline's House website.
Winn was available for students to be aware of volunteer oppor tunities and also information about sexual and domestic violence. "It doesn't always happen to adults. It's with younger kids too. So, we just want to put that information out there, that there's help, and if they want any information, they can come by and take it," said Winn.
For more information on volunteer opportunities at Madeline's House, go online to www.madelineshouse.org.
To view the entire list of clubs and organizations on campus, go online to www.longwoodorgs.collegiatelink.net/organizations.
