Masynn Acheson reporter
Every semester, Pittsburg State University makes sure to host an Organization Fair in the Overman Student Center for new students looking to join an organization. This allows them all to find a group that they can feel comfortable around, as well as provide resources and a support system for them to fall back on.
Director for Campus Activities and the Overman Student Center, Eva Sager said, “one of the big pieces about being at Pitt State is that we hope every student has a chance to get connected,” with the Organization Fairs being perfect for students to, “hear what student experience is by the student themselves.”
The Organization Fair is not only for organizations that are for fun like Gorilla Guild, but you can also find some with paid positions like in Residence Hall Assembly (RHA,) find a religious community like Campus Christians, advocate for students affected by sexual assault with the Students for Violence Prevention, or a group focused on making sure students can have the best chances of getting into Med School that they can with the Pre-Med Club.
Alea Billingsly is a junior double majoring in criminal justice and modern languages with an emphasis in Spanish, as well as a member of Students for Violence Prevention. She was at the Organization fair to represent her club and inform curious students about what it stands for and the kinds of activities they host around campus. “Students for Violence Prevention is all about preventing sex-based violence in on campus and in (the) community,” they mostly focus on, “stalking, sexual assault, domestic violence,” and the club is committed to, “supporting survivors and also helping people… that want to help others.” They mostly host events like bake sales, like the one coming up in February to support Safe House. Safe House is a women’s shelter here in Pittsburg. They have several events coming up this semester to raise awareness of the experience of women as well as inform others about Sexual Assault Awareness Month. She wanted to make sure that students and community members could feel safe coming forward with their stories to prevent more people becoming victims of sexual assault and reporting them to the proper authorities to get more federal aid to help those who have experienced it. This group also allows those who want to help but sure not sure what to do and gives them that outlet to help those in need and raise awareness.
One group on campus that does not get a lot of attention is the Pre-Med Club, where they help, “provide a community for pre-med students at Pitt State… (they) primarily want to help upcoming freshman and sophomores… get a better idea of what they may be doing and building their resume.” The group also has upper class students give advice on what kinds of extracurriculars, shadowing experience, and faculty connections will be helpful for getting into medical school. Pre-Med Club plans to host their regular study session and ones geared towards the Medical College Admission Test.