Every year, eager-eyed freshmen step out of their parents’ cars and are met with New Student Orientation. This event, however, is more than just an infodump on housing and class registration. It’s also an opportunity for new students to get involved in clubs across campus.
Clubs and other campus organizations tabled throughout July’s New Student Orientation days, giving information for involvement to future students. The U offers opportunities for involvement in various areas of campus life, including but not limited to athletics, arts and academics.
Athletics and school spirit
At New Student Orientation, the Marching Utes encouraged students to audition for the U’s marching band. Bjorn Swanson, one of the faculty members of the Marching Utes, discussed the process and importance of joining the marching band. “We require some musical experience; the audition process is a video audition,” Swanson said in an interview with The Daily Utah Chronicle. Swanson explained that many students in the marching band came from high schools that provided musical experience, but few had marching opportunities.
“I think that finding something that you enjoy and not being afraid to try a number of different things, and not being afraid of trying something you’re not familiar with, and looking silly or being bad at something but just doing something is important,” Swanson said.
Jasmine Turner, a student intern at the Office of Student Experience, discussed the student-parent experience at the U. “We have a family weekend, where we have more activities like box derby, tailgating and games,” said Turner. “We host an event every Friday, like free skiing and ice skating.” This year, the Office of Student Experience started a ski bus to help students get to and from the mountains.
Additionally, the Office of Student Experience offers a ski night, where students can ski for free. “We pay completely for their ticket, their way up there, their supplies, and so it’s a great way for students who’ve never skied in Utah to have a free opportunity to come and try it,” Turner said.
Arts and Culture
Future students can involve themselves at the U through more than just athletics, such as various artistic and cultural clubs and organizations. The Arts and Illustration Career Club helps students prepare for a career in art and illustration while creating a community of students with similar interests. Madelin Howell, one of the leaders, told the Chronicle that it’s illustration students who run the Arts and Illustration Career Club. “We work with the art department a lot and we focus on career portfolio building and stuff like that within the arts,” she said.
Inez Akumutimo joined Howell, explaining that the club is open to all. “We are open to any major; however, we do focus on the illustration career and educating people about it,” Akumutimo said. “We try to make sure that anyone who is interested in having a career in illustration knows all the avenues they can take alongside all the skills that they should have.” The club also offers workshops and field trips specifically focused on the arts.
Students at the U also have access to the Arts Pass. Zoe Madrid, an intern with the College of Fine Arts, explained that the pass is something students have access to from day one with their UID. “They just use it to get into all the art events on campus; they can get in for free.”
Madrid also shared that Arts Pass will be holding its first event in September called Arts Bash. “There’s just going to be food, people performing, just an art event,” Madrid said. “It’s just something to stay included in art; you don’t need to sign up for it,” Madrid said, referring to both the Arts Pass and Arts Bash event.
Academics
In addition to athletics and the arts, students can also take part in research and other scholarly pursuits. Cade Faragher, a staff member at the Office of Undergraduate Research, discussed the opportunity for students to do research through the U. “A student can expect to meet a bunch of like-minded individuals that are doing similar work to them, as well as they can build their resume by doing research, as well as presenting and publishing their research through our office,” Faragher told The Chronicle.
Faragher also explained that students involved with research can build a good relationship with faculty in their area of study and help students explore career paths. “There’s thousands of research projects happening on campus, so students can get involved in anything from STEM to fine arts, anything in between, whatever they’re interested in,” Faragher said. “We’re more than happy to help them kind of explore that.”
Students at the U also have access to multiple libraries across campus, including the Marriott Library. Librarian for Student Success Dorothy Terry discussed the libraries across campus and the resources available. Campus libraries include music, law, health science, fine arts and architecture. “We’re friendly, we’re welcoming, we’re here for our students, and a lot of people don’t know it but our job is literally to help you with your projects and help you with your assignments,” Terry said.
The library is also starting a new program called the Answer U program, which offers live chat services with the library’s staff. “It’s a new program that’s starting, and it’s kind of like a one-stop shop for questions for anything across campus,” Terry said.
