Amidst the bustle and soft-edged roar of students passing in any and every speed, booths lined the brick-and-mortar wall leading up to, and inside the Gottesman Room. Students packed behind the grey plastic desks adorned with their respective banners talking to passing students whenever they can, competing with the noise of the room all the while.

The most important part about this scene is that the place is jam-packed, and all these people are here for the campus involvement fair, an event hosted each semester to expose students to all the clubs and organizations anyone can join at Pace.

Campus involvement fairs may sound fairly academic in nature, but that isn’t necessarily all you’ll find at a fair such as this.

Emilee Coladarci, member of Gamma Sigma Sigma and, unrelated to her spot at the involvement fair, the Future Educators Association, offers a more sociable reason to come out for school-hosted fairs.

“You get to meet a lot of people,” says Coladarci. “Definitely come to the involvement fair, come to any events that are happening on campus and then people will definitely start to notice you and it can help you get your name out more.”

Gamma Sigma Sigma is a co-ed service organizations with roots at Pace, along with eight other sororities having a presence on campus. Guys on campus have a similar number of selections when choosing a greek organization, with seven fraternities available to join at Pace.

From a quick scan of the fair, the presence of fraternity and sorority life is duly noted, dotting every other booth between organizations such as the Disney Fan Club and school-run organizations like Pace Athletics.

For those like Alex Franciosa, this fair was a search for more academic engagement with students.

Franciosa, Managing Editor/President of the Art and Literacy Journal under Vox, attended the fair to inform students of the journal and the services it provides to individuals inside and outside of the organization.

“We are always looking to find people to join our organization, but also to submit to our journal that we publish every semester,” says Franciosa. “Writers and artists I think a lot of times [don’t] know that we exist, so we like events like this to show that we’re here.”

Vox Media is a multinational digital media company partnered with Pace to provide publications such as the aforementioned journal that is published each semester, with the big-name entities it possesses including the eponymous news publication Vox and tech news site The Verge.

Following the mission of Vox at the involvement fair, Franciosa describes the submission criteria and process.

“All you have to do is…write a short story, an essay, or just any kind of prose or poem [or picture] and email it to [email protected].”

In addition to the logistics of how and what to submit to the Art and Literacy Journal, Franciosa believes there is value to the club on a personal level for students.

“I think that creativity is a very important thing that is often overlooked now because in college you just start to think about getting a job,” explains Franciosa. “I feel like it’s easy to lose a part of yourself. Especially for those who like creative works [it’s important] for them to not let that part of them die.”

Speaking to Morgan Hennessey, who was managing a Relay for Life booth, it seems that personal well-being is being covered on multiple fronts.

Hennessey, a member of Colleges Against Cancer that hosts Relay for Life as just one of its several fundraising initiatives, wants students “to relate to [her] cause”.

“Students should get involved at their school no matter what,” says Hennessey. “To get involved in my organization, Colleges Against Cancer, [is] very important because we raise money for a great cause, we raise awareness.”