This year the Activities Fair took place in the HUB rather than on the academic quad due to rainy weather, and many students held that the location change did not affect sign-up numbers for their organizations. 

Challah for Hunger, a community service organization which raises funds for hunger relief charities by baking and selling challah, a Jewish sweet bread, received “more sign-ups this year than the past two years combined,” according to Marissa Ruschil ’19, one of the organizations co-presidents. Ruschil could not be sure if had to do with the location or this year’s “enthusiastic class of first years.”

Emma Spector ’19, president of Run With It, the campus’s improvisational comedy group, also said that her organization had a good turnout. “We did have about 50 sign-ups which is really good especially for improv comedy which can definitely be seen as a niche group on campus,” Spector said. She also went to explain that while “the change in location may have made it easier for people to find us” this was never a problem when the fair was outside either, because “usually the students who are interested in improv comedy are able to find us pretty easily because [we] are loud and are definitely creative with our advertising.”

MOB, the multi-organizational board, Chair Julia Huddy ’19 agreed that hosting the fair inside did not decrease the turn out. “People tend to look forward to the activities fair and come out because they want to know what’s going on around campus,” she said. “Moving it inside can make it seem overwhelming to students, but, honestly, just the sheer number of clubs is overwhelming whether we’re on the academic quad or in the social hall.”

Elizabeth Haraburda ’19, co-executive director for the Idea Fund, said that the location of her table by the far windows of the Social Hall helped the crowds seem less overwhelming. “The steady flow of people that naturally develops at these types of events kept crowding relatively minimal,” she said. 

The Peddler’s sign-ups were also consistent, and Peddler General Manager Lucy Sowerby ’19 stated that holding the fair in the HUB actually helped turnout. “There were tables spread throughout the center of the HUB as well as in the Social Hall… it was impossible to walk through the building and not be aware that the fair was going on.”

By contrast, Ana Sarmientos ’20, president of the Latin American and Caribbean Club, said that “the location did affect the turn out because although we did get a high number of sign ups, in the past it was much more.” She also said that “it was quite crowded so people would simply see the name of the club and assume [what] it would be so they signed quickly and left.”

According to Dickinson College’s website the event happened over the course of two hours on Sunday Sept. 9 and included more than 100 student groups, clubs and organizations.