The Ferguson Ballroom was bustling with students during Wednesday’s Get on Board Day, sponsored by the SOURCE. About 140 organizations were represented and ready to help students learn about how they could become involved.
The diversity of interests on the UA campus was reflected by the array of organizations: religious and community service, scientific- and health-related, sports and student media, as well as organizations that strive to inform students about world issues.
For students such as freshman Hannah Miller, Get on Board Day was about taking the first step to finding a niche and becoming involved on campus.
“My first semester, I focused on my grades,” she said. “But now that I’m used to managing my time better, I want to get more involved.”
Sophomore Rachel Minor said she visited Get on Board Day to find a way to get involved through volunteering.
“I want to find something volunteer-related but also a smaller group because it’s a big campus,” she said.
Most tables donned a bowl of candy, but some tables featured advertisements to attract students.
An Israeli flag hung across the Alabama Friends of Israel table, which also featured Israeli candy and a laptop showing a movie about the U.S presidents and their relationship with Israel.
Renee Sharon, president of AFI, said her goal for Get on Board Day was to inform students about the organization.
“I hope that the Israeli flag will draw people’s attention, and people can just ask us questions,” Sharon said. “We really just want to answer questions and explain our reasons for why we support Israel.”
Delta Gamma, a nation-wide sorority that is coming to the University in the fall, was represented by members from other parts of the country in hopes of attracting potential new sisters.
“Today for our setup, we just have souvenirs and the design of our house,” said Lorie Hunter, a consultant for Delta Gamma. “We have information for people to take and we have a video montage of all our chapters and events.”
The UA Exercise Physiology Club brought a device that could estimate body fat percentages, the Society for Creative Anachronism featured group members clad in traditional middle-ages dress and the Association for Computing Machinery had Marvin, a robot mascot, weaving through the tables.
Colleges Against Cancer representatives said UA chapter president Andres Peña is responsible for putting on Relay for Life. His hopes for Get on Board Day were that students would stop by and sign up for a team and get on the mailing list.
“We are hoping to get more interest in people who want to start a team or be on the Relay for Life committee,” Peña said.
Kami Clark, a representative from Youth for Christ, said her group has had success in gaining new members at previous Get on Board Days.
“It’s nice because students can stop by and see who we are,” Clark said. “They become interested automatically or they hear something that we’re saying – it’s not like we have to grab students who are totally uninterested in what we’re doing.”
Courtney Coleman, a representative for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People on campus, said she appreciated the chance Get on Board Day gave her association to reestablish itself among students.
“Recently, the NAACP has been almost an invisible organization,” Coleman said. “It has been active, but unless you knew somebody in it, you didn’t really know that the organization existed. But this semester and last semester, the NAACP is having a comeback, and we hope to bring it into the light and get more membership.”
Bobby Jordan, a senior majoring in biology, became interested in a group called Stewards when he was told that he might have an opportunity to fly on a jet. Though he didn’t know about Get on Board until he was at the Ferg, he called the event a wonderful experience.
“I was walking around the Ferg and I heard that Get on Board Day was going on,” Jordan said. “I thought it was a good chance to find out more about what my school has to offer.”
Additional information about organizations can be found at thesource.ua.edu.
