As students walked to class on Tuesday and Wednesday, they saw decorated tables lined up with organizations eager to connect with new students.
Student organizations took to campus to participate in the semiannual Involvement Fair hosted by USC Campus Activities. About 150 organizations participated in the fair.
The event is scheduled to continue on Thursday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Organizers said the event got off to a successful start as they assisted Trojans in finding clubs and organizations to join to get the most out of their USC experience.
The university is home to over 1,000 Recognized Student Organizations (RSOs) that range from cultural, arts and academic groups to Greek life.
Every year the fair is hosted by USC Campus Activities, who have been planning the event since Thanksgiving break. Despite having to postpone the event a couple of times and move locations, the event is a staple for the Trojan Welcome Experience.
“We try and get everyone involved in student life to support us and get as many RSOs as possible. We have about 150 tables for student organizations each day and we’ve seen a pretty good turnout. We ran out of tickets for our food vendors every day” said Madison Lang, Compliance Coordinator for Campus Activities.
Troy Camp is one of USC’s oldest and largest organizations devoted to serving the greater South L.A. community, specifically elementary youth. The leadership and mentorship club strengthens its relationship with local kids by providing tutoring, after-school activities and a free week-long camping trip to the mountains.
“The Involvement Fair is pretty much our time to spread our community and message,” said Fernando Campos, a Troy Camp member. “We’ve been here since 1948 and we’re just trying to spread some love within our community. This is our time to allow the students to come be a part of that.”
Grupo Folklorico de USC is a Mexican folklore dance group on campus. The cultural group was originally established in 1975 and then brought back in 2018. Members said the involvement fair is important to the overall growth of the group.
“It’s really helpful for them to just see the posters and see our vestuario on the table, or the zapatias, and being able to just know what we do and then be able to ask questions,” said GFUSC President Emily Hurtado.
For some organizations, this was their first time participating in the Involvement Fair. IDEAS is a USC organization that has created a “safe space for undocumented students and allies.”
“This is amazing. We’ve gotten so many people, even people who just want to be allies for our community. So I think that the involvement fair honestly was a great choice to start,” said Heydy Vasquez, advocacy liaison for IDEAS.
Middle Eastern North African Student Assembly, MENASA, also participated in the Involvement Fair and is a new organization on campus that was established just last year.
Maideh Orangi, MENASA’s co-executive director, is optimistic for the future of the club. “Our growth is not super steady because we’re new, so we’re expecting it to be exponential as people find out about it. So I feel like the Involvement Fair is one of the best ways [for] people who are new students, especially freshmen and sophomores, to find out about MENASA,” she said. “It’s been a really helpful tool for us.”