<ent Activities Office brought a little extra flair to this year’s student activities fair two weeks ago.
“Each year we try to improve upon the events,” said Nadine Sunderland, assistant director of Student Activities, referring to some of the new bells and whistles of this year’s fair.
The major change to the fair was the addition of two local Northfield singers, Sasha Mercedes and Eric Valdez, performing on a stage at the southern edge of the Bald Spot and DJs from RatPack Radio playing music.
Sunderland said SAO had wanted to bring more entertainment to the fair. As for the quality of the performance, it seemed to be lost on the crowd.
“I couldn’t really hear her,” Zoe Abdel-Moneim ’15 said. “I almost didn’t know she was there.”
Other students had the same reaction, expressing concerns that the performers seemed far away, and fairly out of place. Because of these sentiments, the planning committee is not sure if it will invite musical guests in future years.
“If you don’t try new things, you’ll never know if they work,” Sunderland said. “We also wanted to have something to do for the first weekend, especially for first year students.”
Despite the slight setback, the fair attracted a capacity crowd. More than 240 student groups gathered on the Bald Spot to learn about and sign up for any clubs their hearts desired.
Group leaders were especially pleased with the number of Carls signing up for a wide range of activities.
“It was really interesting to see it wasn’t just freshmen signing up, but sophomores and juniors as well,” said Ray Nelson ’12, president of the Black Student Alliance.
“A lot of people came and tried new things,” said Arden Caffrey ’13 of the Gender and Sexuality Center.
For the first time this year, many faculty and staff also attended the activities fair.
“It’s great because they know that students do a lot and now they could see just what students are doing,” Sunderland added.
Sunderland was pleased to report that the fair this year ran more smoothly than ever. With an external company handling all the tables and equipment, the set-up of the fair was organized and efficient. Student Activities hosted its own tent to provide help to any groups facing glitches or confusion.