By Danny Coakley and Cheyanne Alcombright
As the fall semester came to a close at Westfield State University, a familiar pattern took form among the student body. Once again, student involvement with campus activities regressed in every setting.
Twenty students participated in a survey asking why they believe there is a large portion of students who are not involved in on-campus activities. The most common answers were other commitments, lack of information/promotion, and the number of commuters.
In regards to attending activities on campus, 60% of the respondents said they went “once in a while,” while 30% said they went “often.” In terms of being a part of a club, once again 60% of students claimed to be a part of one or two. However, most students said they either went to club meetings or events “once in a while” or “never.”
One student, Dean Roberts, touched on his other commitments making him less likely to participate in on-campus activities.
“I have five classes, I have a job, and I’m not free until four or five,” said Roberts, “…and by that time, I don’t have much interest in doing clubs and meetings… I would rather hang out with my friends than go to a club event.”
While many students remain uninvolved with campus activities, some are highly active and puzzled by the lack of participation. Joey Joyal is the 2021 Class President, a Residential Assistant, and a member of the Student Government Association amongst other organizations on campus. He claims to get frustrated when students don’t take advantage of opportunities presented to them.
“Getting involved on campus is one of the most simple yet best things a student can do,” said Joyal. “It can lead to friendships, networking, and job opportunities. The school offers so many programs and organizations and it just makes college a better overall experience.”
Head of the Campus Activities Board, Cam Kelleher, has noticed the lack of participation throughout the semester as well, noting that first-year students are the largest group of participants. However, the amount that attend meetings decreases as they make friends throughout the course of the semester. Kelleher remains optimistic and has a plan to keep students coming to events.
Kelleher plans to rejuvenate the concept of doing on-campus activities for the incoming first year students. CAB focused on student recruitment and hosted a lot of events during the first couple of weeks on campus.
“We marketed a lot, especially at our orientation, in the first week of us being here to a lot of freshmen to make it seem normalized,” said Kelleher. The head of CAB strives to create a culture where participating in events is common, which will lead to freshman participation for the duration of their college careers.
Help WSU raise student involvement on-campus by filling out the quick survey below.
