Welcome Fest exposes students to campus opportunities

Let's face it. Coming to a University with 36,000 fellow students donning IU apparel makes it difficult to filter out of the all-too-familiar nine digit student ID number.\nDistinguishing oneself from this number takes a certain degree of effort, and Tuesday's annual Welcome Fest gave students a chance to find their niche and become involved on campus.\nStudents were exposed to several clubs and groups that adhere to interests anywhere from business, religion, honorary greek chapters and even ballroom dancing.\nDuring the sweltering heat Tuesday afternoon, the IMU circle drive was converted from a parking and loading zone to a sea of tables decorated with colorful poster boards, photos and promotional pens.\nWelcome Fest is a program co-sponsored by Union Board and the Commission on Multicultural Understanding (COMU). \nAround 130 groups participated in Welcome Fest 2002, and although the nature of the club differed from table to table, the presence of free magnets, buttons, candy and pens enticed potential student members to learn more about the different organizations.\nGroups like the Christian Disciples, the Aikido Club, Students for Justice in Palestine, DECA and Big Brothers Big Sisters set up shop at Welcome Fest, each bearing a clip board or notebook for students to sign up for more information.\nThe Feminist Majority Leadership Alliance student group encouraged students to become involved with their group and said the stereotypes about feminists in general are inaccurate.\n"We work on very important issues, such as reproductive rights for women which are currently threatened," said senior Emily Roth, former president of the FMLA. "There are definitely stereotypes, like that feminists are man-haters, but that's not the case because we actually have men on our executive board."\nRoth agreed with the intentions of Welcome Fest because she said getting involved is a good way to become acclimated to IU's large campus.\n"Participation in student groups allow you to meet other people with similar ideas and values, and also to meet people who you never would have previously," she said.\nMany ethnic groups on campus were present at Welcome Fest, including the 300-member Indian Student Association.\nA colorful scrapbook filled with paper cut outs and photos of past events illustrated the involvement of the ISA at IU and the fairly large presence of Indian students.\n"We celebrate many of the Indian holidays together, and it's a great way for other Indian students to interact and meet with each other," senior Nazneen Kapadia said. "It's also good for international and foreign exchange students to feel more at home."\nMany honorary and recently established greek chapters said they were excited to disseminate information about their group and recruit possible members.\nGamma Phi Omega, the nation's first Latina-oriented sorority was established 11 years ago right here on IU's campus, and current members said they looking forward to expanding their chapter.\n"We also want to broaden everyone's horizons because there's more to Latino culture than just the Mexican or Puerto Rican aspects," said Jessica Montalvo, senior and co-president of the chapter. "So far we have six members, but would love to get around 15 or so. And we want to inform people about the different cultures within the Latino community in general."\nIn addition to Greek life, students with a zeal for politics were also accommodated at Welcome Fest, and the IU College Republicans handed out fliers and even a registration to vote.\n"We're definitely very active, and three of our executive members are interning with the Monroe County Republican Party," said Casey Cox, a junior and president of the club. "It's good to get involved with politics and develop beliefs because in college you're here to learn and grow, and becoming politically active really helps with that process"