Campus organizations are one of the biggest components of student life at VSU, and the Get the Scoop Organization Fair gave many of them the chance to highlight and showcase their groups to the student body.

Get the Scoop was held on Wednesday, Jan. 19, in the Student Union from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

According to Maggi Hole, VSU’s Student and Organization Leadership Coordinator, 40 different organizations set up shop in the ballrooms, and 247 students checked in to browse their tables.

“We wanted to allow students to have another opportunity to get involved here on campus,” Hole said. “We wanted to have a space where students felt that they could come and learn about student organizations while also getting a nice little scoop of ice cream.”

There are 130 student lead organizations at VSU. Get the Scoop included organizations from each classification including spiritual groups, special interests, academic groups and more.

Many of the organizations attending the event were there with the hopes of bringing in new members.

“We’re hoping to get more members,” Rena Viele, a senior physics major, said. “We’re a bit low in membership, so we’d really like it if we could have some new ones, especially freshmen.”

Viele is a member of the Society of Physics Students. She said their organizations hold many astronomy based events on campus.

“We normally volunteer during planetarium shows and do star parties on the roof with telescopes,” she said. “We also do numerous trips.”

Some of these trips include a visit to the Kennedy Space Center, Florida State University Magnet Lab, Hatch Nuclear Facility and community outreach events with their telescopes.

Emma Sweet, a sophomore deaf education major, represented the Newman Catholic Center at Get the Scoop.

According to Sweet, the NCC host a wide variety of events, including masses, bible studies, hangouts, coffee times and Blaze nights, to bring current and potential members together.

Like the SOPS, NCC attended Get the Scoop with the hope of gaining new members.

“We only have a few handful,” Sweet said. “We want to be able to reach out to people so they can know about us. We’re not as well-known on campus, and it’s hard to find our little house on the side of the road.”

According to Sweet, the organization hosts all denominations, not just Catholics, and do not limit membership based personal characteristics or spiritual beliefs.

“It’s really just a place where you can come and find other people who have beliefs,” she said.

Dance Club was also one of the organizations in attendance.

“We host classes every Friday from 2 to 3:30, usually in Rec Center or University Center,” Armisya Randolph, a senior dance major, said. “We also preform for a lot or organizations, we network and we host a lot of event in terms of meeting up, getting to know our members.”

Get the Scoop was a chance for Dance Club to not only gain new members, but also broaden their horizons.

“Some people are worried about skill level or genre, but we have a lot of beginner classes that get people used to the climate in our organization,” he said.

According to Randolph, Dance Club has yoga, stretch classes, beginners’ ballet and hip-hop, jazz and more.

“A lot of the organizations said it was a really great way that they could reach more students,” Hole said.

According to Hole, the Office of Student Life is looking to hold similar events in a different location in the future that will be more accessible for students to see as they pass by.

A list of all VSU organizations are available on BlazerLink. To find a club that interests you, browse through the list, search a club name or select a category from the dropdown box.

If you are interested in starting a club, contact Maggi Hole at mhole@valdosta.edu, or visit her in the Office of Student Life located on the second floor of the Student Union.

Written by Bailey Storey, Photo Editor. Photo courtesy of Bailey Storey.