The first in-person U-Knighted Fair since February 2020 drew a sizable crowd in Haverhill’s Spurk building Feb. 23.
The annual Student Life event aims to show the diverse extracurricular activities and resources NECC has to offer.
The fair filled the first and second floors of the Spurk building with 30 tables accompanied by staff, faculty, and members of student organizations.
Tables offered free apparel, school supplies, crafts, and information to interested students.
Student Life supplied free food for 150 people that was gone by the end of the three-hour event.
“The U-Knighted Fair was awesome … I think we all loved being together under one roof talking and eating and enjoying time together. It was so nice to finally have an in person event with so many campus wide included,” said Stephanie Haskell, coordinator of student activities and organizer of the fair.
One of the many items Haskell prepared for the event was sign-up sheets for each office and club, allowing interested students to sign up for reminders regarding club meeting times and other related news.
“I got to socialize with multiple people I know, and the food was good too. People did seem to be interested and we got a whole sheet full of new people for the club,” Said Cailin Macdonald, founder of NECC’s Art Club.
Other clubs enjoyed the publicity as well, with Amnesty International, the American Sign Language Club, and Student Government all getting some attention.
The Table Top Games Club especially seemed to garner student interest.
“We had about 15 people put their name down as interested in the club … We will soon reach out and see when a good mutual time to meet is and try and get everyone together to have fun and play some games,” said Matt Gingras, adviser for Table Top Games.
However, not every club was as lucky, with the Student Government Association only reporting three sign-ups.
“Not as many people were interested as I hoped … On a good note, all of us at the tables had fun and it was great to see people in person! They helped me advertise my campaign for SGA President,” said Franziska Hoene, current Vice President for SGA.
The success of in-person events like the U-Knighted Fair seems to have gotten more people excited for similar future events.
“Spring Jam is a similar event but much bigger including more food, music, activities, and more! We just chose the date … I have had colleagues message me about it, which is making me excited to start the planning,” said Haskell.
Spring Jam will be in person for the first time since 2019, and it is currently planned for Wednesday, April 13, from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. on the Haverhill campus.
