Oakland University’s Winter 2024 semester kicked off with its biannual GrizzFest celebration as part of Welcome Week, sponsored by the Office of Student Involvement (OSI).
The event was hosted in the Oakland Center Banquet Rooms from 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. and featured dozens of student organizations handing out free merchandise, such as mugs, t-shirts and candy. WXOU, OU’s campus radio station, provided music for the event and students enjoyed free snacks.
Student organization leaders said they were excited to build their club and community. One such student organization was the newly-founded Guitar and Bass Club of Oakland University (GBC-OU).
“The guitar professor here and I were having a private session. He told me the idea of reviving the guitar club after 15 years,” GBC-OU president AJ Sherman said. “I decided to follow through and I made it a reality.”
Sherman said he appreciated the opportunity to spread the word about the club.
“We started right after GrizzFest last semester, so we’re trying to get the word out as much as possible,” Sherman said.
Other student organizations emphasized their desire to build and support communities at OU and beyond, such as Golden Giving, which emphasizes volunteerism.
“It’s a community thing,” Fernanda Ferraz, the Golden Giving Executive Volunteer Coordinator, said. “We want to bring other people into the community, maybe show them some of the different issues that are going on in the world, but it’s just a great way to make friends… it’s kind of a two-way thing. You get something, but you also give to a different community.”
At the Gender and Sexuality Alliance’s (GSA) table, students got to make pins out of their drawings. The goal in tabling at GrizzFest, GSA Treasurer Aurora Ave-Lallemant said, is to help students find like-minded individuals.
“The GSA wants to be a welcoming student-ran community for all queer students on campus, as well as all allies who might want to learn more,” Ave-Lallemant said. “In being [at GrizzFest], we want to help people not only feel seen and heard but also help people find like-spirited individuals.”
Although Fall GrizzFest occurs at the beginning of the academic year in September when most new high school graduates begin their college experiences, Senior Director of OSI Jean Ann Miller said that Winter GrizzFest is just as much an important part of getting students acclimated to university life.
“It makes you feel like part of the community and part of OU,” Miller said. “We have brand new students that have started their semester for the first time at OU, so we want to introduce those students to get involved, particularly through student organizations.
“Sometimes, first semester, students are a little hesitant… they don’t know if they have the time and they’re concentrating on their academics first,” Miller added. “Then they discover, ‘I want more to college life than just the classroom experiences.’ This offers them the opportunity to meet, up close and personal, with students that are already involved so they can find out what they’re interested in.”
However, Miller said, the event is important even to students who are not new to campus.
“It’s never too late to get involved,” Miller said.
Students can find more information about student organizations on GrizzOrgs.
