An eclectic mixture of more than 100 student organizations gathered in Free Speech Alley for the Student Organization Fair and weathered the windy conditions and low temperatures.
Members pronounced the fair a success, despite the threat of rain and the arrival of late clouds.
“I think that it’s great that everyone is represented,” Lindsay Dyer, an English freshman, said while handing out flyers. “The Chapel on the Campus has a table right next to Spectrum Alliance. That’s great.”
The cold weather was a frequently mentioned complaint, but organizations’ members enjoyed the visibility that Free Speech Alley provided.
“I’ve never been to an organization fair unless it was outside,” said Sayi Liggonah, a mathematics sophomore in the African Student Organization. “A lot of people walk through here on their way to classes.”
Two tables away, Kim Munro, a faculty adviser for Men Against Violence, handed out student health and wellness information. The organization provided pamphlets for cancer detection along with “The Penis Owner’s Manual.”
      “Any time you move an event like this inside, you lose a little bit of your participation,” Munro said.
Amanda Sadat, president of the Union Program Council, said she joined UPC at an organization fair.
“It’s more of a festival outside,” Sadat said.
At the Women Organizing Women table, Kayla Bourg and April Tauzin said more people would get information because the fair was outside, but that the wind was blowing their information off the table.
Nonetheless, Tauzin said, “We’re coming to them, rather than them coming to us.”
At the next table, Young Life member Bret Bourgeois said although the spring fair is smaller than the fall fair, it helps the organization recruit trainees.
Several organizations offered service outside the confines of their respective tables.
Ambassadors Aimee Bazin, an elementary education sophomore, and her friend Rozlyn Hebert, a psychology freshman, walked among students and handed out information for their fall applications.
The University chapter of National Association for the Advancement of Colored People offered forms for voter registration.
Melody Robinson, NAACP president, said the Union ballroom is too crowded for the organization fair.
Kristina McKenzie, a history junior and Alpha Kappa Alpha member, had a different reason for wanting to be outside.
“I personally don’t feel like climbing the stairs,” McKenzie said.
ISDS senior and fellow AKA member Daphne LaSalle said the diversity of information by the different organizations made the fair interesting.
A few feet away, Rebecca Marchiafava, an English sophomore, manned the Amnesty International table and said the amount of information from different organizations made the fair better because more students would come.
“When you’re tabling by yourself, we don’t get half the interest as we did today,” Marchiafava said.
For those affected by the cool weather, David Carr, a biological sciences freshman and Water Ski Club member, offered some advice. “The cold weather is all a mindset,” Carr said.