On Thursday, Sept. 7, NYU Shanghai held the bi-annual Involvement Fair in the ninth-floor colloquium for the first time after moving to the Qiantan campus. The Involvement Fair is an event at NYU Shanghai that allows students to learn about the various clubs, programs, volunteer organizations, and groups they can take part in during their time at NYU Shanghai. Each organization had a dedicated table that students could visit to learn more, ask questions, join WeChat interest groups, and even gain swag.

We asked some students at the Involvement Fair about their thoughts on the event.

Many students enjoyed their time at the Fair and found some clubs that interested them, including business and photography-related clubs, and were surprised at the number of clubs available. Roman O’Brien, who found interest in the Student Health Center, unexpectedly found interest in On Magnolia Square. Even though it was a good experience for O’Brien overall, O’Brien suggested that the event could be done “downstairs, perhaps outside so it's more breathable” as it was very crowded inside the colloquium.

We asked some club leaders at the Involvement Fair about their thoughts on the event.

Theodore Tolan, representing Board Game Club, described the process of preparing for the Involvement Fair as “pretty clearly written” and that he didn’t have “any problems finding anything.” When asked about whether the Involvement Fair provides enough exposure for his club, he replied, “Yeah, I mean honestly, I don't really want that much exposure because the more people that join the Board Game club, the less people get to like join the events, if that makes sense, because the events are only going to be like 15 people max.” Tolan mentioned that his last Involvement Fair experience was at the Century Avenue campus, and he was more familiar with the space. Other than the wall separating the two parts of the room, he has positive thoughts on the space.

Ryan Hiew, representing eSports Club, also thought that Student Involvement did a “very good job [...] at managing everything” and liked how Student Involvement tried “to make it more oriented towards [students]” but also provide support when needed. He mentioned that he saw many familiar faces but also new faces at the Involvement Fair when asked about exposure.

Adriana Gimenez, representing TEDxNYU Shanghai, agreed that Student Involvement made the process of setting up a booth at the Fair easy because she “thought it was really clear” and that they got “a lot of emails.” When asked about exposure, Gimenez brought up that they were “looking more for freshmen” and was pleased to find that many freshmen were interested but surprised to find that some sophomores were also interested.

Overall, students at the Involvement Fair were pleased with the event as they were able to find extracurriculars they were interested in or find members for the club they led.