Quinnipiac University student organizations and first-year students gathered around the quad for the annual Involvement Fair on Wednesday.
The event involved hundreds of students meeting with several clubs on campus to see which interested them the most. It marked one of the first times a large crowd has been unmasked for an event on campus since the university went fully remote on March 15, 2020.
However, for organizations and club leaders, this was a chance to see fresh faces on campus without a mask on.
“This is just a great opportunity that we could do this in the way that we can do it,” Vice President of Membership for Student Programming Board Paige Pezzella said. “It’s not as normal as we would like it to be, but it’s normal enough.”
For Pezzella, a sophomore English and media studies double major, 2020 was a difficult year because as a freshman, she struggled to connect with fellow students on a restricted campus.
“I think that in the beginning it was especially hard to meet people,” Pezzella said. “I think that’s why I’m also glad I joined SPB because if I didn’t I was considering transferring because I was just not having a good time.”
Due to the pandemic, this was Pezella’s first Involvement Fair. For Orientation Leader Myriam Dubisson, it was a welcome return.
“It’s been kind of wild,” said Dubisson, a senior 4+1 computer information systems major. “The last time I saw an in-person Involvement Fair was maybe like two or three years ago. … Being able to see all the organizations we have on campus and seeing all the people that came out, it’s really nice to know that a lot of people want to get involved.”
However, with a slow return to normalcy comes fears of a resurgence of COVID-19. Ben Christensen, music director for “The Legends” a cappella club, said he has some reservations with the rise of the Delta variant, but that he’s hopeful for the future.
“It’s going to be interesting to see what happens because as we’ve already seen the virus has changed, and we’ve relapsed a bit,” said Christensen, a sophomore psychology major. “Personally, I’m hopeful and I would like for things to return mostly to how they were before.”
But with a vaccine mandate in effect for all Quinnipiac students living on campus, Pezzella said she feels safe.
“It definitely is a bit unnerving at first because there are a lot of faces and a lot of people, but I know that for me personally, I feel fine because I’m fully vaccinated,” Pezzella said.
The university announced in an email on Sept. 7 that just under 95% of the student body is fully vaccinated. There have been 10 total COVID-19 cases since Aug. 30.