YCSC Holds Club Fair

Students checking out their options at the Club Fair

BY PINCHAS SHAPIRO

Continuing its efforts to invigorate extra-curricular activity on campus, the Yeshiva College Student Council held Club Fair 1997 on Tuesday September 16 as a forum for students to explore opportunities to get involved in student-run activities. The fair, which was held in Belfer Hall’s Weissberg Commons, was the second of its kind at YU in many years. It featured representatives from all registered clubs and societies under the jurisdiction of YCSC.

Even with a relatively small turnout, most clubs reported that there were satisfactory numbers of new students interested in their respective societies.

The Yeshiva University Debate Society, a society that is making its first appearance on campus in over thirty years, came away with the most impressive enrollment numbers. It boasted over seventy-five students expressing interest. “We were hoping to get the society off to a good start, and it seems as if we did just that,” said Elan Weinreb, the society’s executive officer.

The founding of the Yeshiva University Film Analysis Society by Adam Moses and Oren Margulies represents an institutional first. Moses, the society’s co-president, reported that approximately sixty students enrolled in the student organization during the course of the fair. According to Moses, the society “seeks to publish insightful, coherent criticism of contemporary motion pictures, organize a formal school-wide annual film festival, and lay the groundwork for talented, ambitious students to prepare and shoot an independent film production.”

The excitement generated over the recent additions to the pool of clubs and societies complemented the interest in the perennial club favorites. Organizations like The Commentator, in its 62nd year, the J.P. Dunner Political Science Society, the Yeshiva College Dramatics Society, and Sigma Delta Rho, have remained popular.

In the past, many clubs, despite having large membership bases, failed to conduct a reasonable amount of credible activities during the academic year. “As far as I’m concerned, the majority of the clubs in school exist merely for people to pad their resumes,” said Mendy Miller, YC ’98, commenting on his observations of club activity last year. “There seems to be a serious deficiency of true club activity.”

YCSC, recognizing the concern over club inactivity, has decided to continue the crack down on idle clubs. The Club Affairs Committee, which YCSC President Sruli Tannenbaum chaired last year, is prepared to take all necessary action to ensure that clubs remain active. “We will not tolerate clubs that exist merely on paper,” said Tannenbaum, who will personally keep a watchful eye on the clubs this year to guarantee that they perform as they should.

Commenting on the success of Club Fair 97’, Dror Barber, the fair’s organizer said that it was “far more productive than I had expected.” One enthusiastic first year student said, “I was very impressed by how many clubs there were and by how well club fair was run…If Club Fair was any indication as to what the students can expect from student life, then this could end up being very exciting this year.”