By Chad Richards, Contributing Writer
The start of a new semester brings with it new opportunities and new students; in fact, this year in particular, there are more new students coming in than before. Which means that it can’t be overstated that it’s important to be involved on campus, especially after the traditional organizational fair at the beginning of the semester.
Luckily, West Liberty has many different clubs and organizations that can help you accomplish that goal. While you can look at the full list here, I’ve selected a few from all across the campus that you should consider joining.
The first and most common kinds of clubs on campus are the academic clubs. You could almost say that for every major on campus, there’s a club that you can join. These clubs range from university chapters of national organizations to locally founded groups.
The Biology Club is open to everyone interested in biology, regardless of major and features guest speakers, field trips and charity work for cystic fibrosis. The Investment Club allows students to have the experience of investing real money in the stock market with real risk and reward. The D’Math Club is a club meant for anyone interested in Mathematics; their members often volunteer at the Special Education Fair. There are also many different academic honor societies, admission into which depends on your major. Some of these include Chi Beta Phi (Science Majors) and Psi Chi (Psychology).
While there are more academic clubs than other types of clubs, they don’t have the kind of variety that other groups on campus have. Anyone can start a club on campus as long as they have an academic advisor, which can make for some very interesting groups.
There’s something for everyone: from Student Government Association for students who want to be involved in the University to Martial Arts Club, for those who want to learn or practice Martial Arts. There’s also the Dance Team, Dance Ensemble and the Swing Dance Society, for those who like dancing. The recently formed WLU College Republicans and Young Americans for Liberty groups serve the more politically minded students. You could also join campus radio station WGLZ Radio to learn the ins and outs of the radio business and play music on the radio. There are many more organizations to join, each different from the other. But some of the most recognizable groups on campus are the Greek Life organizations.
When it comes to Greek organizations on campus, there are many different types: fraternities and sororities, local and national organizations. But the one thing they share is the ability to provide their members with lifelong friends, memories and the opportunity to give back to their community.
The two national sororities on campus are Alpha Xi Delta and Chi Omega, while the national fraternities are Phi Delta Theta and Kappa Delta Kappa. The local sororities include Beta Rho Epsilon, Delta Theta Kappa, and Lambda Psi Sigma, and the local fraternities are Beta Theta Gamma, Chi Nu and Kappa Delta Kappa. Each one of these groups has their own members, traditions, policies and charities. But all certainly promise to give any college student that joins them memories that last well beyond graduation.
With the new semester beginning, there’s never been a better time to join a club and get involved. The only difficult part may be making up your mind about which clubs to join.
