On Jan. 15, the Office of Student Involvement (OSI) held its second club fair of the 2025-26 academic year in the Leon Lowenstein Indoor Plaza and the South Lounge of the Lincoln Center (LC) campus.
According to OSI, 500 students — 100 more than last year — gathered to learn about clubs they may have missed in the fall.
Dario Celiku, Fordham College at Lincoln Center (FCLC) ’26 and senior senator of United Student Government LC, remarked on how busy the event was.
“I have never seen this many kids in the (indoor) plaza before,” said Celiku. “I’ve been at these (fairs) and I’ve never once seen it quite like this.”
And this semester we’re hoping to continue this while doing more volunteer events and getting more people involved. Jack Forester, FCLC ’26
The beginning of this academic year saw the establishment of several new clubs. The spring club fair provided them the opportunity to showcase how they’ve grown thus far and their goals for the coming semester.
Aashna Jaiswal, FCLC ’27, is the president and cofounder of Women in Law and Leadership (WILL). She expressed her enthusiasm for several new initiatives the club is planning.
“A few events that we’re really excited about this semester are doing an LSAT prep workshop at some point, a headshot event for LinkedIn and a professional clothing swap that we’re hoping to partner with another Fordham club on,” Jaiswal said.
Youth Advocacy Coalition (YAC), another recently-formed club, shared similar anticipation for the next couple of months. Jack Forester, FCLC ’26 and treasurer of YAC, looked back fondly on the fall semester. He said their most successful event was their Youth Careers Panel, which the club is planning to expand into a series.
“We invited people from around the city to come talk to students about their careers and their involvement with youth advocacy,” Forester said. “And this semester we’re hoping to continue this while doing more volunteer events and getting more people involved.”
We’ve been very surprised by the turnout because we weren’t really expecting that many people to join. Summer Panaligan, FCLC ’29
There was significant excitement from the newly formed Figure Skating Club, which was approved the week before the spring club fair. The club’s president, Summer Panaligan, FCLC ’29, said she was very excited about the amount of people interested in signing up.
“We’ve been very surprised by the turnout because we weren’t really expecting that many people to join. But obviously we’re so happy,” Panaligan said.
Not every club experienced the same excitement, though, as many felt sidelined by their placement in the South Lounge.
Simon Beltran, FCLC ’28, secretary of Catholic Student Fellowship (CSF), said being in the back of the Club Fair was an obstacle to obtaining new members.
“It’s been really hard to be in the back,” Beltran said. “It’s been difficult to get out and show some people who might not have been interested (in CSF) and give them the opportunity to learn more about us.”
CSF was not the only one to note that the divided spaces made outreach more difficult. Treasurer of the Anthropology Society Mireya Galván, FCLC ’27, noted that her club was “making do” with their placement in the South Lounge.
“The turnout is pretty good considering we were kind of put in the back of club day (and) not the main atrium,” Galván said.
Niamh Cogley, vice president of the Anthropology Society and Fordham College at Rose Hill ’26, echoed this and shared her opinion on how a different placement could have improved their turnout.
“There are other clubs here that link very well to the Anthropology Society that are in the front area,” Cogley said. “And maybe having more grouping by theme would (have) help(ed) us out a bit.”
It’s great to see faces come back and talk to us before the semester starts Missy Lalo, FCLC ’26
Associate Director for Student Involvement Melissa Gazal shared that OSI did start assigning club placements with themes in mind this year.
“For table assignments, we tried something different this year in which we tried to group clubs based on categories as best as we could and then randomly assign the categories to each location,” Gazal said.
Despite such grievances, many still believed that the second semester’s club day was a success. Missy Lalo, FCLC ’26 and the co-president of Filipinos of LC Offering Welcome (FLOW), said she and her other tabling members were having a good time.
“It’s great to see faces come back and talk to us before the semester starts,” said Lalo. “(The club fair) is another reminder that we’re here, and we’re active, and that we’d like to see anyone come in.”
Although it sparked some mild frustrations, there was a general sentiment that the club fair successfully launched many clubs and associations into the new semester as they begin holding their first meetings of the year.
