If you are one of the Grand Valley State University Lakers who wants to get involved in an on-campus organization but think it might be too late, the Campus Life 2.0 event is for you.

The second Campus Life Event will take place Jan. 11 in the Kirkhof Center. The event has two parts: From 7-9 p.m. there will be information tables about student organization involvement and from 9 p.m. to midnight there will be a New Year’s celebration, where some organizations will showcase their different performances and demonstrations.

Campus Life 2.0 is similar to Campus Life Night held in September. This event gives clubs and groups a chance to inform and recruit new members.

Aris Mantopoulos, Office of Student Life graduate assistant for campus programming and cultural programming, was one of the key players in making this event happen.

“Campus Life 2.0 is an easy way for students to explore how to get involved on campus,” Mantopoulos said. “New students have the opportunity to learn about and join different student organizations on campus.”

Chelsea Pulice, campus programming graduate assistant, was also involved in planning the event.

“The main goal is to reach out to transfer students and freshman to expose them to all the ways to get involved on GVSU’s campus,” Pulice said.

The event has taken a lot of planning and preparation in order to appeal to the many transfer students, freshmen, and upperclassmen at GVSU.

“Preparation for this event was a team effort,” Mantopoulos said. “The Office of Student Life team has worked together to plan various activities to encourage students to join us for a fun night.”

There are many activities planned to attract students of all interests to the event.

“I worked on booking the laser tag, a DJ, and food. Basically other activities to draw students into the event,” Pulice said.

The Office of Student Life wants to expose all students to the programs that they have to offer for students.

“We have all types of student organizations attending,” Mantopoulos said. “There will be cultural groups, service and advocacy groups, performing arts groups, sports and recreation groups, special interest groups, fraternities and sororities, and many others.”

As for getting students to come and enjoy the event, the OSL is not worried about a lack of attendance.

“I am confident we will get our target audience of freshmen and transfer students to the event,” Pulice said. “We have been really targeting the residence halls for RAs to promote the event to their residents. We really want to show freshman and transfer students that GVSU is their second home with many opportunities for growth through active participation on campus.”

The OSL wants to connect students with student organizations and resources that meet their interests. They want students to expand their horizons, meet new people, and have fun while exploring their interests. This event was planned in order to meet these goals.

“(GVSU) has just about every student organization you could think of,” Mantopoulos said. “I think students who attend this event will have a hard time not joining too many organizations all at once. Every student who attends should be able to find at least one group that interests them.”

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