Thousands of students will flock to the Memorial Student Center Sunday seeking opportunities for campus involvement.

MSC Open House, which began in the 1950s, will take place Sunday from 1 to 5 p.m. More than 450 organizations will be in attendance, and about 15,000 students attended the fall and spring Open House events combined last year, according to the MSC Open House website.

Brian O’Hara, political science senior and MSC president, said MSC Open House is one of the best ways students can get involved on campus.

“The Open House to me is a time for first year students and returning students to find an organization that fits their needs, whether that is finding new friends or something they are passionate about,” O’Hara said. “For those already involved in one organization they can find another, or there are a lot of people coming in from their own organization looking for new members.”
Interacting with people who have similar interests is a crucial part of the college experience, O’Hara said.

“Getting to interact with people who are different but at the same time similar to you is crucial to the college experience, because you will get a group of people together who are passionate about the same thing, but with different backgrounds and experiences, O’Hara said.

Carling Repass, international studies junior and an administrator for MSC Open House, said students can go to the MSC website for a list of organizations that will be there to help decide, prior to the event, what organizations they will be most interested in.

“It is really good to go into Open House with a game plan of what organizations you want to see, many students come in and wander around and don’t end up seeing anyone,” Repass said.

Harrison Knowles, engineering freshman, said he is going to the Open House because it will give him a chance to get involved with a few different organizations on campus, in particular the marksmanship team.
“I am interested in joining the marksmanship team and I know I will have to go there to do an interview,” Knowles said. “I’m also interested in seeing what other clubs I might find interesting. You just have to go get informed.”