Involvement Fair welcomes students to campus

As a part of the Trojan Welcome Experience — a six week event at the start of each semester to welcome students back to school — an Involvement Fair is being held on Trousdale Parkway each day from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. until Thursday. 

The Involvement Fair is a prime opportunity for new and returning students to explore their own interests through USC. The University now boasts more than 1,000 recognized student clubs and organizations, from career-oriented organizations like Marshall Women’s Leadership Board to student clubs like the Trojan Knights.

Many clubs view the Involvement Fair as a way to reach out to new students, especially for unique music and cultural clubs like Band Kori, advertised as “USC’s one & only K-pop band.” Seung Jun Shim, a junior majoring in business administration and philosophy, politics and economics is the president of Band Kori, a club that promotes Korean culture by performing K-pop music around Los Angeles, including at the USC Village. Shim said that for clubs like his, having different ways to find new talent is vital and that the Involvement Fair is a “signature” outreach event.

“The Involvement Fair is a really good opportunity to introduce new freshmen and people who are barely connected to us to get some new fresh air to our club and add some more cultural taste to it,” Shim said. “I think it’s the keystone to our recruiting process.” 

The fair took place on Trousdale Parkway, a main campus walkway that is also the site of other student outreach events like the Career Fair.  

“There are a lot of clubs that at first I don’t seem very interested in, but then after talking with the people at these Involvement Fairs, I learned a lot more and I found out that I liked it a lot more,” said Ethan Zheng, a sophomore majoring in physics. “I think it does a pretty good job of connecting students [to USC organizations].”

Some students felt the University should do more to promote the various clubs on campus outside of just the Involvement Fair, as some new students may accidentally miss the event. 

“As a freshman, I don’t think I went to the Involvement Fair,” said Mysha Amir, a sophomore majoring in psychology . “It slipped by so quickly and I didn’t know what was going on.” 

Sarah Uddin, a graduate student studying aerospace engineering and engineering management, said she thought the Involvement Fair was important, but wished the event was spread out across more days because the huge crowds made her feel “a little claustrophobic.” 

The Involvement Fair offers club leaders the ability to directly reach out to prospective members in a way that Instagram posts and websites can’t, said Isaac Gerstmann, a senior majoring in computer science. He said the Involvement Fair is important as it allows club members to show their personalities and helps create “personal connections.”

“I like the energy here, it’s really fun to see for all the freshmen and for the transfer students to see just how much USC has to offer,” said Isaac Gerstmann, a senior majoring in computer science. “It’s very overwhelming, it’s very scary, but with everyone here in one place, it’s more manageable.”