Hello everyone. First I want to start off by saying congratulations on being accepted into Winthrop University. My name is Tadean Page, and I work at Winthrop as the Public Outreach and Community Coordinator, as well as the Assistant for Student Leadership Development.

First I just want to say that we're thinking of you during this time. We know that we're all trying to adjust and figure it out, and we're here to support you. In this quick presentation, it will be about getting involved on Winthrop's campus, and how our hundred 50 plus clubs and organizations can be of service to you, or you can even create your own. Let's jump in.

So, when we talk to our students about getting involved here at Winthrop, there are a number of reasons students choose to get involved. Some of the things we hear is that it builds a sense of community and purpose. For some students, it helps them develop leadership skills; it helps them connect with others, and it gives them the opportunity to make personal and professional connections, while also being able to make a positive impact on their campus and their world.

So getting involved on campus not only helps you become a better leader, but it also prepares you for life after college. When we look at the top 10 skills employers look for within leaders, they look for the ability to work in a team and the ability to make decisions and solve problems. So the more you get involved at Winthrop and around our campus, the more we can prepare you for those opportunities in the near future.

So it is true that regardless of which college you go to, there are a number of opportunities where you can grow as a leader and get involved on their campus. However, at Winthrop we do a really good job of really trying to prepare our students and provide them a holistic experience that speaks to their direct interests and their direct needs. So within our Office of Student Activities, that's the office that oversees all of the student organizations, we currently have over 150 clubs and organizations that you can choose between within 13 different categories. So anything you could think of, we probably have a club for. And if not, you can always create your own club at Winthrop, which is something I'll talk about in a few minutes as well.

So those 150 clubs or organizations, they all have the opportunity to receive funding from our Student Allocations Committee to put on their events and initiatives throughout the year. We currently host about 2000 meetings, events and programs throughout the year, so there's always something for our students to do during the week and the weekends as well. There are numerous opportunities for our students to get involved, and I definitely encourage you to check out the links below to learn more about those opportunities, as well.

We have so many student organizations for our students to choose between. Everything from campus ministries, to club sports that may be basketball, powderpuff football, skydiving, soccer. We have cultural clubs, that may be a club that talks about natural hair and what that process is like. We have clubs around hip hop, so many things for our students to look at and choose between. We have departmental clubs. We have 18 social Greek organizations. We have honorary clubs and societies. We have interest clubs or interest groups, political groups, professional clubs and organizations, religious clubs and organizations. We do have representative councils, which I'll speak more about in a second, and then I also speak more about residential or hall counciles. And then there's opportunity for students who enjoy giving back or committing to service, where they can participate in those opportunities, as well.

All right, Greek Life. So we do have fraternities and sororities here at Winthrop. A lot of our Greek organizations are very active on our campus and within the larger community as well. Some requirements to consider if you're thinking about Greek life, you do have to have at least a 2.5 GPA and at least 12 Winthrop University credit hours. So even if you are taking college courses now, or you are coming in with some credit, they do have to be at least 12 Winthrop credits to be considered. Most organizations do host recruitment in the spring semester so that freshmen students do have the opportunity to join. However, that spring semester at least gives you one semester to get acclimated, to get your feet wet and get adjusted to what Campus Life is like. And also here on this slide, you can see the different councils that we have, as well as the full list of all the Greek organizations that are on our campus.

So there are also other ways to get involved at Winthrop, as well. We do have student publications, so if you're an editor, or a writer, or a photographer, or would like to jump into some of those areas, you can do that at Winthrop through our Student Publications department. We have Council of Student Leaders, which is our version of Student Government Association. So you can join the Council of Student Leaders or CSL as it is also known across campus. You can be the student body President or Chair, you can be the student body Vice President or Vice Chair, you can join the Exec Board, or you can just be a member of the Council, which is made up of people from all across campus to really give it a diversified voice to make sure that we're really catering to the needs of all of our students. So that's something to think about joining. We do host the Lift Conference every year which is a leadership summit that we host on our campus every year for student leaders, specifically for first time leaders, so we definitely encourage you to think about that and think about joining Lift or considering attending Lift once you get to campus in the fall. We have Alternative Spring Break so if you're into service like giving back, you can take an Alternative Spring Break to a different state or to a different country and give back in a way while also enjoying your spring break. We have Literacy Intervention Team, which is where you can go to different schools and read with students. You also can get paid for that, or you can also just volunteer. We have hall councils. So every one of our residence halls has a hall council, which is basically made up of people who live within that residence hall to make sure that they're addressing the needs and the concerns of our students, while also making sure that students enjoy their experience within that residence hall. And then lastly, on this slide, we do have intramural and club sports. So if you're into athletics, but maybe necessarily you don't want to join the school team or dedicate that much time to it, you can form a team with some people across campus, and then you all play together against people at our school or schools that are close by. So that's an opportunity to do that as well, while also experiencing your athletic opportunities while at Winthrop as well.

So that's a quick, general overview of getting involved here at Winthrop. As I said at the beginning, there are a number of ways that you can get involved across our campus. And even if you can't see one directly, or we do not provide one that currently fits your needs or interests, you can always create your own club here at Winthrop as well, and we'll be happy to talk to you about how that process works as well.

We encourage you to connect with us in the meantime. Connect with us on Twitter and Instagram at Winthrop_OSA. You can always email us with any questions that you may have as well. Consider checking out our calendar of upcoming events, so you can see what is done across our campus, or what are some of the fun things that you can do once you get here at Winthrop. And then also, check out our website for more information at winthrop.edu/studentactivities. If we can do anything, if you have any questions please, feel free to let us know, and also enjoy checking out the other links and videos that we provide. Continue to enjoy your Winthrop Day experience, and we wish you the best of luck. We cannot wait to see you in the fall. Bye.