Rutgers Closes Part of College Ave. For Annual Student Involvement Fair

NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ—Rutgers University Student Life, the student-involvement branch of the Rutgers undergraduate community, hosted its annual fall involvement fair on the afternoon of Friday, September 5.

Each year, student organizations table at the fair to recruit new members and make students aware of their services, offering pamphlets, free merchandise, and interactive activities.

In previous years, the fall involvement fair was held at Vorhees Mall, a picturesque and quiant lawn on the College Avenue campus between Hamilton Street and Seminary Place.

But administrators say they had to find a larger location this year due to the growing number of organizations on campus, which now number more than 400.

Last year’s fair was marred after being relocated indoors to the Rutgers Student Center and College Avenue Gym, due to predictions of thunderstorms and lightning.

The move proved to be a disaster, as hundreds of students who wanted to get involved were turned away due to the fire code occupany limits, and those who could get in complained about the heat and humidity which permeated the facilities.

For this year, the student involvement fair occupied a portion of College Avenue between Senior and Bartlett Street, which was closed off for the duration of the invovlement fair.

Student organizations are broken off into different sections: social action/political, cultural, sports programs, engineering/pharmacy, student life/student governance, geek, leisure, university departments, community service, academics, performing arts/media, religious/religious cultural, fraternities/sororities, and non-University organizations. 

A number of still complained about the temperature and humidity this year, but it was decidedly more comfortable than last year’s debacle.  At around 3:30 pm, the temperature hit a high of 88*F, with a humidity factor of 88%.