Club t-shirts, sign-up sheets, posters and cupcakes filled tables in the galleries of Founders Hall.

Free t-shirts and cupcakes were just a few things that attracted dozens of Guilford College students to the Campus Involvement Fair. The fair offered students a unique and enjoyable opportunity to explore Guilford’s community.

The Campus Involvement Fair was held on Wednesday, Sept. 13 from 2:30p.m. to 4:30p.m. It introduced students to Guilford’s large selection of student organizations and clubs. Students were able to learn more about and join student organizations and clubs that interested them in order to be more involved in campus activities. From politics to various cultures and sports, there was something to accommodate Guilford’s diverse students at the Campus Involvement Fair.

The Campus Involvement Fair provides college students with a chance to become involved in student organizations and clubs, rather than to be solely focused on their schoolwork.

“Personally, I think it’s that you can get stuck in the thought that ‘I just have to get done with my schoolwork and academics,’” said senior Jemima Adisa. “I’m from Nigeria and it’s all about studying. … When you do other things you get to meet people, people from outside of your classes or interests. You get to know them … and you get to know your own interests as well. You will find out new things about yourself just from clubs and things like that.”

By joining different student clubs and becoming involved on campus, students are able to strengthen the sense of community at Guilford.

“Community is obviously one of our core values. It’s so, so important to engage each other… school is so much more than just academics,” said junior Maddie Campbell, a sociology and anthropology major. “We have all these clubs and all of these students. We have so many different interests and perspectives. You can try something new. You can do something you have experience in.”

For Campbell, participating in student clubs and sports led her to discover her interest in rugby. She now plays on Guilford’s women’s rugby team.

“It’s just like, when I first started, I had no idea how to play (rugby) and same as our president. She was a theater person, I was a theater person,” said Campbell. “And then we came in and it was just fun. I was like ‘I want to try something new,’ find my inner toughness and now here I am with the president of this club.”

The student organizations and clubs at Guilford are open to any student, even if they have no prior experience in what the organization or club is focused on.

“I signed up for the outdoors club, and then the intramural sports seems pretty cool, the physics club seemed interesting,” said first-year Jenni DeYoung. “It’s forced me to actually think about getting involved, and get involved.”

Throughout the Campus Involvement Fair, the importance of involvement and the ability to improve the college experience were stressed the most to students who attended.

The various student organizations and clubs that were present at the Campus Involvement Fair gave students the opportunity to engage in and discover opportunities to enrich their time at Guilford College.

“I cannot emphasize that enough,” said senior Jose Lopez Garcia. “That students should be involved because that’s part of getting the college experience, which, to me, is very important.”