Many registered student organizations and new and returning students attended the SIU’s Registered Student Organization Fair Aug. 22, 2024 at Faner Plaza in Carbondale, Illinois. A giant beach ball welcomed incoming students to sign, doodle, and mark up with sharpies.
A group of students sign the giant beach ball bearing the signatures, messages, and graffiti of the students who visited the RSO Fair in Faner Plaza Aug. 22, 2024 in Carbondale, Illinois.
By the end of the event, the ball had so many signatures it was difficult to find a place to sign.
Many of the clubs had their own group of people that they were tailored to, but most were open to all. As Jonathan Crane said of the Saluki Rainbow Network, “We’re a queer-based group that’s meant to help all students on campus.
Jonathan Crane (middle) talks to students about the Saluki Rainbow Network Aug. 22, 2024 at SIU’s RSO Fair in Faner Plaza in Carbondale, Illinois. Crane described the Saluki Rainbow Network as a queer-based group that’s meant to spread diversity and build the community on campus. “If you’re just looking to have a fun time and make friends, that’s what we’re here for.”
We’re meant to spread diversity, but we’re also here just to help build the community on campus.” Many of the clubs also brought projects they were working on to show off to interested students. The SIU Robotics club brought their two-semester project, a lunar mining robot called Sandstorm that is part of an annual national competition put on by NASA. “It’s hosted in a simulated lunar environment
with the goal being to collect as much material and deposit it in a specific location,” Marco Caliendo, a member of the SIU Robotics club, stated. “This will be our third year. Last year we got 12th place out of 50 teams, and this year we think we can beat that.”
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Janessa Sydow (left) puts her information down on the sign-up sheet after talking to Ashlynn Shea (right) about the Coral Reefers Club Aug. 22, 2024 at SIU’s RSO Fair in Faner Plaza in Carbondale, Illinois. “You don’t think of coral reefs being in Southern Illinois,” Shea stated, “but we do have them. It’s in a facility where we just learn how to grow, raise, propagate, keep them in a system in the midwest. It’s really cool.”Members of the Black Women’s Club pose for a group portrait Aug. 2, 2024 at the RSO Fair in Faner Plaza in Carbondale, Illinois. Caitlan Laster (second from left) said, “Black Women’s Club is a safe space for black women on campus to have those hard discussions about being a college student without shame or discrimination.”Taminul Islam (left) and Sonkorson Talukder Sabuj (right), members of the Bangladesh Student Association, play a game of chess on the fountains in Faner Plaza Aug. 22, 2024 at the RSO Fair in Carbondale, Illinois. (Enan Chediak)
