Lack of Student Involvement Evident from Survey

At most universities, school spirit and student involvement go hand in hand. Here at CUA, that doesn’t seem to be the case.

Catholic University has countless outlets for student involvement, yet it seems difficult to get information on the different organizations available. Sometimes it feels like every student lives in their own little makeshift bubbles and do not venture out to see everything going on around campus.

With so many different organizations relating to all aspects of student life, such as religion, service and social life, all the bases are covered. Although the majority of students have not even made the attempt to stumble towards first base.

Through a random sampling of 75 students throughout Centennial Village, North Neighborhood and Southside, findings were “hit or miss” where students were either completely involved or simply not with student organizations. Even so, interests were scattered across the board from ballroom dancing to Program Board.

The student organization survey involved questions such as: “Are you involved in any student organizations?,” “if so, how many?,” “which organizations are you involved in?,” “if you responded no to the first question, why?,” “what organization are you most curious about?,” “were you more or less involved in student organizations in high school?” and lastly “are you involved in the same organizations or different organizations than in high school?”

After tallying the surveys there was a 60 percent involvement rate. The other 40 percent were not involved in any way.

The survey found that residents living in North Neighborhood were more involved than those living on the Southside.

Conversely, out of the 75-student sample there is a 75 percent interest rate for information on organizations. The consensus seems to be that there should be another Fall Fiesta. It seems that in the fifth week of the fall semester not only are freshmen still wondering what’s beyond the walls of their dorm room, but also seventh semester seniors.

Surprisingly, 25 percent surveyed are not only involved in a political based group but also performing -based clubs such as ballroom, dancing and drama. Only three percent of students surveyed are involved in student government.

Forty percent of students surveyed were involved with either Campus Ministry or some campus ministry related event. Thankfully, student interest is still alive and well with 70 percent of students having some interest in finding out more about certain organizations like the College Republicans, College Democrats, Campus Ministry, Program Board, Student Association General Assembly, Take Note and the Greek life.

With all this data, it seems like there is great potential for growth and upward trend in student involvement throughout the remainder of the year.

Groups Give Back to Community

You think you know everything about student organizations, but you have no idea. We all walk around the Pryz and notice the colorful pieces of paper pinned to the bulletin boards but simply do not take the time to see what they are for.

As Beakon editor, it is important for me to be knowledgeable about activities on campus. Even so, it is more important to understand the organizations that are responsible for these activities. I took the matter into my own hands and held a group discussion for representatives from all of the organizations I could think of. As we all chatted over some pizza, it became very clear to me that these groups want to be known. They want to be understood. What they want us to understand is that they do a lot more than we give them credit for.

One of the words that I kept hearing throughout the interview was service. A great deal of the student organizations are going into D.C. and giving back to the community. Fraternity Alpha Delta Gamma (ADG) plans to go each month to the Armed Forces Retirement Home, has taken part in So Others May Eat (SOME) and will be holding a toy drive in conjunction with Campus Ministry.

A cappella group Redline will be focusing more on community outreach and performing to those at the Armed Forces Retirement Home. They are also working on various projects with Campus Ministry. Sorority Kappa Tau Gamma (KTG) is taking an initiative to increase their aim for community service by making the America Cancer Society their most important project and running a drunk driving course with beer goggles and golf carts on the Basilica Lawn during Alcohol Awareness week.

Another important aspect of student organizations is meeting people off campus that are a part of the same activities. With this in mind, student organizations at the University are also taking steps off campus and interacting with students at other universities around D.C. and across the country. Take Note a cappella group has been networking extensively so that they can make their presence known.

The American Institute of Architecture Students (AIAS) has recently taken on a program called Freedom by Design, which allows students to design buildings and homes specifically for people with special needs. “As an architectural student it’s good to know that you can design that and you can build that,” says AIAS president Irene Jorden. This is the 13^th chapter across the country. Joe St. George, chairman of the College Democrats, has joined a federation with other leaders of college Democrats across D.C., including Georgetown and George Washington University.

This year ADG has been chosen amongst their 13 other chapters to hold their annual conference this spring. Other ADG fellowships from universities will come to the University for this event.

As much as organizations are reaching out, they are reaching back to the University as well. With the creation of the Student Fee Allocation Board (SFAB) and the redesign of the student government through the Student Association General Assembly (SAGA), it is a lot easier for student organizations to be helped. Organizations who need funding for a project or item they may need can present their needs to SFAB, who will decide if it is a good investment. SAGA now represents each class with seven delegates to each class. Each delegate is a liaison for departments across campus, such as Department of Public Safety (DPS), Dean of Students and Program Board. The delegates work on a series of initiatives for the students. SAGA, SFAB and Program Board recently went on a Leadership Retreat together and have decided to hold a “Pirates Cousel” for all of the presidents of the student organizations across campus.

The campus radio station, WCUA, continues to grow with over 50 dj’s and members. The groups is still working towards gaining members with better experience with the equipment, as well as developing ideas for more shows.

The Green Club is showing the campus how to live the cause of conserving water by holding a campus-wide Eco-Water Challenge, where the amount of water used in each residence hall will be measured. “When you’re new, it’s easy to do a lot of things you haven’t done before,” says president Kristen McCarron.

There are new organizations that have been added to the list in the past couple of years. Take Note a cappella has recently been approved to be an official group on campus after a year of struggle. The Green Club was created last year by four people hoping to add an organization that, as McCarron says, “every university has.” Stephen Borthwick, head of Central Committee for the Catholic University Role Playing Fellowship, feels, “We didn’t have a way to organize anyone that take part in [role playing]. There was a demand for it.” Borthwick is working towards making CUARPF an official group so that students can play games like Dungeons and Dragons together.

This may look like a wish list to you, but these events are truely happening. “Please please please come,” says Borthwick. With this page, I hope to explain how important it is for students to understand the organizations that work so hard. These leaders put their hearts and souls into making sure this University satisfies the needs of its students. By getting to know the organizations these needs will certainly be met.