‘We have a big heart and have so much to offer’ — Club Fair 2025 shows off incredible student engagement to start the year
By David Gil de Rubio | dgilderubio@mec.cuny.edu
If ever there was a way to plug into the Medgar Evers College community, there is no better way than by attending the school’s annual Club Fair. Held within the first couple of weeks of the Fall semester, this rite of passage is a chance for students, especially freshmen and incoming transfer students, to familiarize themselves with college clubs and outside organizations looking to boost their membership rolls.
And while Mother Nature did her best to sidetrack the festivities by way of sporadic drizzle and overcast skies, the Medgar Evers College faithful came out in full force.
For Office of Student Life & Development Director Amani Reece, who is the driving force behind Club Fair, the inclement weather wasn’t an obstacle as much as an opportunity to impart a life lesson.
“We have a philosophy that rain or shine, we’re not going to back down from hosting Club Fair,” Reece said with a smile. “We’re not going to postpone or cancel — we’re just going to work through it. The thing that is so awesome to see is the resiliency of our people, our community partners, our students, faculty and staff is that in spite of the weather, nothing is keeping people away. That’s Medgar, right?
“I think when we do these things, there is always more to teach. We’re teaching our students that no matter what, we face the challenges and figure it out. Those are the takeaways that we don’t directly say to a person, but they see, observe and take that in. No matter what. We don’t shy away from that.”
Club Fair is possible because of a year-long process overseen by Reece with a bulk of the work done over the summer. Quotes are received from vendors right after graduation just as budget lines open. Much of the heavy lifting occurs the morning of, when outreach is directed to students who then volunteer to help out.
With set-up normally starting around 7:15 a.m., the decision as to whether tabling would occur either inside, outside or a combination of the two was held off until 10 a.m. Once the decision was made to have it be a hybrid indoor/outdoor event, tables were unfolded and tents unfurled at 10:30 a.m. and completed an hour later for the roughly 500 students expected to attend.
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This year’s Club Fair had 55 organizations tabling on Crown Street and within the lobby of the AB1 building. Outside service organizations looking to recruit included the New York Army National Guard, the U.S. Air Force, the NYC Mayor’s Public Engagement Unit, the New York City Police Department and the New York City Fire Department. Among the myriad Medgar Evers College groups out in force were the Summer Youth Employment Program (SYEP), MEC Vets, the Department of Public Administration and the newly formed Catholic Club.
Greek organizations were out in force with the Divine Nine being represented by Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. and Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc. For the latter, it was the chance to re-establish the organization’s charter on campus. Among those out representing Phi Beta Sigma was Brother Peter Holoman, who is also the Medgar Evers College Senior Director of Advancement and Strategic Partnership. Originally established at Medgar Evers College back in 1993, the chapter has been dark for the past five years.
With a goal of having a minimum of five registrants needed to re-establish Phi Beta Sigma at Medgar Evers College, Holoman explained the importance of making sure his fraternity had representation on campus.
“The Alpha Phi chapter was actually chartered here at Medgar Evers College on December 30, 1993,” Holoman explained. “We are the only Divine Nine or Greek letter organization to have a chapter chartered at the college. Most of the other Greek letter organizations in the area have what we call metropolitan chapters, so they cover three or four schools. We’re the only one that has an individual chapter that was chartered here. What we’re looking to do with Club Fair, Spring Fest and events like this is to reactivate the chapter.
“We want to reinvigorate interest, not just into the organization, but into the chapter.”
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Club Fair provides freshmen and incoming transfer students a direct way to connect with the new community they are entering. It’s an opportunity Medgar Evers College provides where the potential for impactful networking can have benefits that could very well last a lifetime. It’s a scenario James Viafara can attest to. The junior has parlayed his Club Fair experience into a number of opportunities that have resulted in roles that include being the school’s current president of the college’s NAACP chapter. For him, Club Fair was invaluable.
“Club Fair is a unifying space that provides communal opportunities for communal growth,” he said. “My initial introduction to DoSomething, Inc. which is a national organization that is a civically minded hub happened here, at Medgar Evers College during Club Fair of the 2023 fall semester.
“My engagement has led to a national advocacy campaign and I’ve been selected to serve as an ambassador and facilitator. I’ve been able to participate in workshops that were founded at the Harvard Business School and those were all opportunities that occurred based on that interaction that happened here at Medgar Evers College where I met DeNora Getachew, the CEO of DoSomething, Inc.”
He added, “It’s an opportunity for civic engagement throughout our student population. Club Fair is an impactful introduction to student life for our incoming students. I’ve been covered in Spectrum-1 and so many other platforms because of the guidance of DoSomething, Inc. It’s been a really important platform throughout my journey.”
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It’s a sentiment echoed by Zachary Bussey, a senior who transferred over to Medgar Evers College from LaGuardia Community College and was attending his second Club Fair. A member of the Cougars men’s basketball team and CUNYAC championship outdoor track-and-field team, the Childhood Special Education major was able to quickly connect with ASAP thanks to the springboard provided by Club Fair.
“One of the things It’s just to connect all the students around here and meet new faces you don’t usually see around campus,” Bussey said. “Maybe you went to class early and afterwards you’re going right to practice.”
Those students looking to balance out their studies with the rigors and discipline afforded by sports also had the opportunity to connect at this year’s Club Fair. Manning the table was Women’s Soccer Coach Carmen Skrine who was beaming as he stood behind a load of Medgar Evers College Athletic Department hardware that included a pair of CUNYAC (City University of New York Athletic Conference) championship awards won by the girls and boys track team.
In addition to representing a major accomplishment, these trophies are a great conversation starter for the ever-gregarious Skrine.
“These trophies give recognition to those who have put the effort in,” Skrine said. “Most folks don’t understand this takes a lot of work to do. If I can convey to them that the time you put in is valuable, but more important, is what you get out of it. That kind of conversation, I don’t get to talk to other folks as they’re walking down the street, because they’re going to avoid me. Or if they’re in a classroom, they’re going to avoid me and it goes in one ear and out the other. But if I have the opportunity to see you out here, I can step from behind this table and engage you. That energy alone makes a significant difference.”
He added, “I love Club Fair because you get to interact with students, faculty and parents that we normally don’t get to see during the course of the day. With that interaction, as I tell people, I’m just a vessel and I’m going to flow over as much as possible because I like that human touch. Without that human touch, it’s not real. Modern technology—as much as I love it and I do love it, I would rather shake your hand because that’s so important.”
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The connections afforded to students by Club Fair is something Reece takes very seriously. It was important enough for her to propose closing off Crown Street back in September 2016, a strategic pivot that’s been in place ever since.
“It’s about student engagement, right?,” Reece rhetorically asked. “It’s an opportunity for our students to find out about the services and resources available to them and how it’s in one place. I think students aren’t only going to find out about clubs and the extra-curriculars and what happens outside of the classroom, but how important it is for their collegiate experience.
“They get to meet faculty and staff in a completely different setting that is not intimidating. So, when I walk up to a table there’s music playing and they’re giving out fun stuff. I can really get a sense of them and talk to them. The hope is that maybe after they leave here, they’re going to follow up with some of those resources.”
She added, “We want our students to know that community partners have services they may not readily have available and when they come here, they can have all of that. Or they can meet somebody on the line getting cotton candy or an air-brushed t-shirt. It’s really all about engagement. If you look outside, they’re standing outside and while it’s drizzling, they’re having fun and that’s really the main thing. We want our campus to return to its fullest vibrancy. We want them to understand that while we are a small college, we have a big heart and have so much to offer them.”
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Check out these incredible Instagram videos produced by student Jahiem Johnson from the middle of Crown Street:
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