Find your community at the Student Involvement Fair

Getting involved with a student organization is a great way to make friends, learn new skills, and develop as a person. All first- and second-year students are invited to attend the Student Involvement Fair on Aug. 22 from 2-4 p.m. on College Green.

The annual event is hosted by the Campus Involvement Center and will host hundreds of student organizations across a variety of causes and categories. Campus groups come together for sports, religion, politics, fashion, music, shared identity, and many more areas of interest, and they will all be looking for new members this weekend.

Read about a few of these organizations below.

Sustainable Action League (SAL)

The Sustainable Action League is a project-orientated student organization that provides the Athens community with the opportunity and tools to help resolve sustainability-related concerns.

SAL is a new OHIO organization that is currently working with the Office of Sustainability on a project related to solar canopies above the parking lots across campus. “We are excited for all the projects to come this fall. Ohio University has a lot of young and smart individuals who are looking for change. Sustainability is increasingly more important to us today than it has ever been, and I’m really excited to see what we can accomplish this school year,” said SAL founder and President Caleb Gula.

The New Political

The New Political is an award-winning, independent publication run entirely by OHIO students. The New Political covers all political events happening in the Athens community in order to keep their audience informed and politically savvy.

“Our reporting has given the community an accurate depiction of important events, and in the case of our breaking news coverage, our reporting has been picked up by national outlets to inform not only Athens but the country as a whole,” said Emily Crebs, editor-in-chief. 

New members will be encouraged to tell stories creatively, not just through writing but through audio, video, digital means and more.

Creative Expressions

Creative Expressions is a faculty-supported, student-run organization that is dedicated to working with children within Athens community schools. “Our main goal is to promote educational inclusion through activities that focus on areas such as communication, problem solving, teamwork, fine motor skills, and cognitive tasks,” said Creative Expressions President Olivia Wellman.

Because Creative Expressions' mission focuses on working with typical and atypical developing children, each year the organization hosts KidsFest, a local event that helps kids in the Athens area experience free and interactive activities centered around language and inclusion.

“New members can expect to gain experience working with children, collaborate with other student organizations, gain knowledge about the Communication Sciences and Disorders (CSD) major/minor, and attend fun socials and events,” Wellman said.

Black Sheep

Black Sheep is a long form improvised comedy troupe that has been providing entertainment around campus for years. The organization hosts two practices a week in order to prepare for its biweekly show in Baker Theater. 

“Black Sheep meetings are generally hilarious. It's very easy to have a great time and meet some cool people while practicing comedy,” said Black Sheep Co-President Lily Greiser. A Black Sheep alumnus even ended up on Saturday Night Live for a season.

New members can expect a year of laughter. “Joining Black Sheep was the best thing I did my first year at OHIO. Shows are always so fun and thrilling. But, half the time, practices are even funnier,” Greiser said.

Allies

Allies is a student organization that was created to fill the gap of acknowledgment of both marginalized and intersectional identities. The organization “seeks to create a safe environment for people to learn about allyship and how to be a better ally, regardless of where you're at in that process,” Allies President Luvina Cooley said. 

Allies provides education to all members of the community, regardless of identity. The organization’s meetings and community forums uplift the voices of people through guest speakers and panels of individuals from other parts of the University.

This year, new members can expect to collaborate with other OHIO organizations and committees while the organization begins to broaden its focus to food insecurity and the abilities of other OHIO community members.

To get a head start before the Involvement Fair, students interested in joining an organization are encouraged to create a profile and begin exploring BobcatConnect, the central hub for all OHIO student organizations.