Grand Valley State University students flocked to parking lot H on Sept. 12 to interact with local businesses and student organizations at Campus Life Night.

The annual event, which was from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., was organized by the Office of Student Life. The event was designed to bring students and organizations together by providing space for the 400 organizations to recruit new members and for students to explore opportunities within GVSU’s campus.

LeaAnn Tibbe, assistant director of student life, noted that in spite of the event’s date being changed, once for inclement weather on Tuesday and to accommodate Rosh Hashana on Sunday, the event would be entertaining for the students attending.

“It’s a Saturday night, there is no football game tonight and we just went home last weekend, so this is where it is happening,” Tibbe said. “I am looking forward to seeing students being able to connect with an organization on campus that they will be able to really fulfill their dreams here and get involved to make a difference.”

Ranging from student clubs, the Panhellenic community and nonprofits, the goal of the night was to help students find their niche within academic, social, or sport-related fields.

For those who were unable to make it to Campus Life Night, below are examples of some of the more unique organizations that took part in the event:

1. NAACP chapter at GVSU

“The NAACP is one of the oldest national civil rights organizations,” said organization president, Kimberly Jones. “With issues of civil strife, discussing situations before they arrive, it is important now to promote our chapter here so that people do understand that they do have a voice on campus, especially if they are a student of color.”

2.GVSU sailing club

“The club sailing team is a group of college sailors who compete throughout the Midwest,” said club founder, Abbey Barnes. “We go to the University of Michigan, Michigan State, Purdue and we practice on Macatawa Bay on the weekdays and travel on the weekends. (The club) allows students to basically test out sailing or keep going in their sailing experience and improve on that in college.”

3. American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)

“We are an organization that defends the liberties of everyone in the U.S.,” said president Glenn Miller. “We deal with anything that involves your freedom of or right to freedom of speech, freedom of expression, right to education, right to health care, immigration rights, LGBT rights, race rights – we are really about the rights. We plan on doing a round table about sexual assault by the people who handle sexual assault on campus with Title IX coordinator Theresa Rowland and Jesse Bernal, the VP for Inclusion and Equity.”

4. Renaissance Faire Club

“We are a social club, we get together and have fun, and try to connect with people about medieval and Renaissance life,” said James Corey, vice president of the club. “This coming year will be the 20th anniversary of the Renaissance Faire being at Grand Valley. We try to inform that our club exists so that we can get new members before the faire starts so that they can come and participate with us.”

5. Momentum dance

“We are dancers who let whoever wants to choreograph, choreograph,” said Briana Dean, vice president of the organization. “We do auditions, people pick who they want in their piece and at the end of the semester do a show – it’s free to come to the show, but we accept donations and 100 percent of our donations go to nonprofits or research institutions. It is a cycle of dancing and we try to better the world that way.”

For further information about the various organizations and how to get involved on campus, visit www.gvsu.edu/studentorg.