First Look: Get Involved fair gets new students excited about campus groups
By: McKenna Graham
Featured image by McKenna Graham
Freshmen and transfer students got to know the more than 300 clubs and campus organizations that Towson has to offer at the First Look: Get Involved fair on Aug. 25, at SECU Arena.
The fair was followed by the Roar Rally, which featured a cheer routine, a TV giveaway and other forms of entertainment.
Present at the fair were two of Towson’s service-based organizations, Tiny Tigers and Sisterhood.
Mandy Smorgens, a junior elementary special education major, explained Tiny Tigers as being a group dedicated to ensuring the health and safety of the stray cats on Towson’s campus.
“A lot of people don’t realize [that] we have a lot of [stray cats] in the Glen Woods,” Smorgens said. “Probably upwards of thirty.”
The club has meetings to bond with one another and to make sure the cats are healthy and fed every day.
Sydney Simpson, a junior psychology major and the vice president of Sisterhood, focused not just on the community service part of her club, but the aspect of fostering the community.
Sisterhood is a club that focuses on providing leadership, inspiration, friendship and empowerment to the campus with meetings, charity events and community service.
“One of our mottos is ‘Giving Life,’” Simpson said. “We want to give life to the campus. We want students to be able to feel comfortable in our organization, to want to go out and help their community.”
Sisterhood’s meetings range from informational to service-oriented, and all meetings offer a “free, safe space to talk,” according to Simpson.
Tabling alongside the service organizations were groups like the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and the Muslim Student Association (MSA), both of which focus on bringing people together from different backgrounds to appreciate specific identities.
“What [the NAACP does] is just promote awareness for equality for all people, and make sure that everybody feels included and welcome, and promote black people as a unit,” said Chauntese Gary, a senior exercise science major.
Similarly, the MSA looks to promote bonds between people who identify differently in an effort to come together.
“What we’re trying to do is provide a friendly environment for Muslims and non-Muslims alike to come to,” sophomore Aisha Elmanyari said.
Beyond service and community-based organizations were clubs and groups focused on the social aspect and lifestyle parts of being in college, like Fit TU and the Campus International Christian Fellowship.
Fit TU is about maintaining a healthy lifestyle and taking care of your body, introducing healthy habits that you can carry well past college years.
The club stresses the importance of taking care of yourself mentally, as well physically, with a good education.
International and domestic students seeking a place for spirituality might find themselves at home with the Campus International Christian Fellowship, which focuses on introducing students to one another in a religious community.
“We are here to introduce international as well as domestic students to the love of God,” said Sunny Kim, a member of the Religious Staff Coordinating Council.
The organization focuses on helping students build a relationship with one another and includes events like an International Welcome Dinner, weekly bible studies, movie nights and a fall retreat to provide “time for worshipping God, and relaxing in nature.”
Those interested in theatre might want to check out Actors Anonymous, the only student-run theatre club on campus.
“We aren’t affiliated with the theatre department, but we still try to collaborate with them and combine with them as much as we can,” President of Actors Anonymous Rebecca Altschul said.
Editor’s Note: Any clubs and organizations mentioned in this article, as well as every other group affiliated with Towson University, can be found on the “Clubs & Organizations” page of the University website, and on the University’s “Involved@TU” portal.
