St. John’s University Holds First In-Person Spring Activities

Fair Since 2020

Over 100 tables lined up inside Taffner Field House to get students involved on Queens campus.

St. John’s University clubs and organizations set up tables inside Taffner Field House on Monday, Jan. 30 advocating for student involvement and recruitment. Students crowded the area, visiting the 129 tables from noon till 3 p.m.

St. John’s holds an annual activities fair at the start of each semester. Last year’s Spring activities fair was held online using social media platforms, like Instagram.

Maya Bidiak, president of the Ukrainian Cultural Club, was excited to introduce the club to new and continuing students. “We haven’t really been around since the eighties, so we’re excited to be back on campus,” Bidiak said. The club aims to encourage community building through multiple events, including arts and crafts events and mixers.

“Especially right now, with everything that’s happening in Ukraine, it’s really important for people that are not Ukrainian as well to join in and kind of help out to do what we can here,” Bidiak said. “I’m looking forward to creating different kinds of connections on campus.”

The fair was filled with a series of games, giveaways and raffles. The Office of Multicultural Affairs gave away pins with indications of people’s preferred pronouns and other tables gave away sweets, lanyards, water bottles and more.

Trisha Jandoc, co-chair of Catholic Relief Services (CRS), was excited for students to learn more about CRS and speak to the executive board.

“We have a lot of opportunities for advocacy and service,” Jandoc said. Jandoc is from the Philippines, where “trafficking is very rampant,” making it a topic she is passionate about. “I was trying to find different ways that I could be involved in an initiative that works towards addressing trafficking.”

Chappell Players Theater Group is part of the performing arts department at St. John’s. Nikita Persaud is the public relations chair of the group, which hosts four yearly shows, including two musical shows and two straight plays.

“What I enjoy about [the fair] being in-person is that, you can see around us, there’s a lot of people and a lot of voices,” Persaud said. ”It is a great way to actually meet one-on-one with a person. Especially if you’re coming in as a new student, there is so much potential around you.”

A full list of the student clubs and organizations on campus can be found on the University’s website. Students can also discover clubs and organizations on the St. John’s University Connect app.

Student Government, Inc. Aims to Allow Donations of Premium Meal Swipes

At this week’s assembly meeting, the St. John’s Student Government, Inc. provided updates on recently signed bills, and voiced their hopes for future initiatives.

St. John’s University’s Student Government, Inc.

(SGi) held its biweekly assembly meeting on Feb. 13, discussing recently signed bills and voicing their hopes for future semesters. The meeting began at 5:04 p.m. in Room B70 of St. Albert’s Hall.

President Ethan Burrell mentioned his hopes for allowing premium meal swipes to be donated between students, as part of a new initiative the executive board has been working on.

“We’re trying to see if you can donate premium swipes to students who are food insecure,” Burrell said. He aims for students with extra meal swipes to be able to donate swipes to other students, both resident and commuter, through a portal on their phones.

“We’re in the process of working that out,” Burrell said. “It would probably be implemented next year. Hopefully the next executive board will continue to work with them.”

SGi sends out monthly newsletters to all St. John’s students through their student emails, providing updates on past and current bills. This month’s newsletter provided information on three passed bills within the Student Senate in January 2023: Bill 5, Bill 6 and Bill 7. to implement scanners, which detect body heat, that provide information on gym availability online. Burrell and SGi Secretary Julianna LoMonte viewed the scanners on Monday and will move on to contact the manufacturers for further information regarding pricing.

Bill 5 — proposing an act to host workshops year-round to answer questions regarding taxes and credit scores for both international students and U.S. citizens — was signed by Burrell.

Bill 7 — proposing an act to add a ‘Campus Dining’ app to SJU SignOn, and update the website to include detailed nutrition information, Halal/ Kosher availability and allergen information — is signed and underway. Burrell and SGi Speaker of the Senate Nawsin Kamal met with Chartwells Higher Ed and the University’s Director of Auxiliary Services Scott Limperle to move forward with the plan.

“This bill is going to move forward,” Burrell said. “They think it’s pretty simple to put the options on the website.”

He said they’ll “try to aim for it next month.” Burrell signed Bill 6 — proposing an act to update students on gym availability — and recently spoke with staff at the fitness center. The goal is

For the first time this year, SGi shared a schedule of this semester’s upcoming assembly meetings via an Instagram post.