Pictured above is Andy Xu ’24 and Anthony Yang ’25, who advertised their Math Club.
Music blared as students made their way through the crowded maze of club tables in the Snyder Center (Snyder) on Saturday. At the Club Fair, several student-led clubs were present, like those focused on STEM, humanities, social justice issues, hobbies, and much more.
The Club Fair is held during Fall Term each year. Christopher Capano, Director of Student Activities, explained the event’s general purpose and history.
“The club rally has existed before I started working here, so at least 12 years. There are a lot of clubs on campus because a lot of kids want to get more involved with student life and make clubs with kids with similar interests. The Club Fair is just a way to advertise your club and get more people to come and join,” said Capano.
Clubs used unique tactics to attract prospective students. Ella Kowal ’25, Co-Coordinator of the Phillips Academy Sustainability Coalition (PASC), explained how PASC representatives promoted the club and its distinct initiatives.
“We have 12 initiatives that are a part of the PASC, and we set up a whiteboard behind [us] so we could display the posters of those different initiatives. We had a general PASC poster as well. We had posters on the front and the back of the whiteboard, and a few on the table. We had people holding up signs and yelling at people to come sign up, and a QR code where people could register… What we did was describe what we did as a whole club. We’re the sustainability club on campus, and we have all these clubs that are a part of us as well,” said Kowal.
The Philomathean Society (Philo), a debate club, aimed to show students the liveliness of its meetings and events. Andrew Morgan ’24, Co-President of Philo, emphasized that attracting students at Club Fair was different from gathering new members from other events.
“Our approach going into it was to be loud and attention-grabbing, because people are attracted to positive energy. So, Laerdon, my fellow Co-President, and I were working on attracting as much attention as possible and showing people that Philo is a fun community and a community that you want to be a part of. The strategy was just to yell at people. We didn’t really go into the nitty gritty like we did [at] the Public Speaking Panel. The [goal at] Club Fair was to let loose and show people what the Philo energy was rather than what our objectives are this year,” said Morgan.
Sami Tokat ’26, an attendee of the fair, expressed how being a returning student changed his viewpoint on many of the clubs present. Tokat added that he was sometimes attracted to clubs because of their visual presentation, but he was also influenced by friends into joining certain clubs.
“This year’s Club Fair was a bit more busy. There were a lot more people and more stations. My personal perspective from last year changed because I was more familiar with the clubs… I joined [South Asian Society], which I had not previously thought I would join… I joined due to the cool poster and a bit of peer pressure,” said Tokat.
Jaylen Daley ’25, President of Cubing Club, described how he made his club table more interactive for students by setting up Rubik’s Cube-related items and accessories. He mentioned how being able to physically feel the cubes could bolster interest, resulting in more sign-ups.
“I had my laptop, and with it I had two stackmats, which are used for competitions as timers to record how fast you solved a cube. I brought pretty much all of my Rubik’s Cubes that I brought to Andover, which was less than 20 or so. They were a variety of different cubes. I just hope that people found that tactility nice, and were inspired by the experience of the Rubik’s Cube, equipment, and technology. I think that churned more interest,” said Daley.
The Club Fair was two hours long. Mario Calvo ’24, board member of Spanish Club, proposed changes to that Club Fair that could increase its efficiency and effectiveness.
“Having been on the board of a club for two years, I like the Club Fair because everyone is out and about and there are clubs everywhere. People can go from place to place without any worries. I think the school could give a complete list of the clubs that are going to be present, [so] you could plan out what clubs you would want to go to. It would save you from having to email a board member [of a club] or getting random emails from a club you aren’t interested in,” said Calvo.
