The usually peaceful commons lawn was swarming with excited students strolling by the decorated tables encircling the lawn. Some were freshmen, others were returning students — but both explored the tables for groups sparking their interest.
Cokes and Clubs is the annual opportunity for the 70 clubs and organizations at Calvin to recruit students eager to get involved. Calvin also provides Coke and ice cream for students while they peruse the booths.
A diverse array of political, academic, and athletic groups — including Calvin Conservatives and Calvin Democrats, Chess Club, Dance Guild and Running Club — attempted to appeal to students.
One such enthusiastic student was Stacie Mead, a freshman from second Rooks, who took full advantage of the many opportunities on display.
“I signed up for cycling club, break dance club, ballroom club, rugby, two engineering clubs (ASCE and Engineers without Borders),” said Mead. “I’m probably most excited about break dance club.”
The campus-wide event gave students a chance to become acquainted with the multiple student groups that fill the campus.
“The primary focus is to showcase all our student organizations,” said Paula Englin, coordinator of student organizations. “[The focus is] to let students know about the types of co-curricular opportunities at Calvin.”
Roughly 1,000 people attend Cokes and Clubs annually, including students and faculty. Addison Sung, a sophomore student representative of the South East Asia Club (SEA Club), wanted students to learn more about the organization.
“We want to focus more about learning culture in fun ways,” said Sung. “We’re starting 30-minute language lessons, including Vietnamese, Burmese, and Indonesian.”
In addition to the exciting and diverse array of clubs and organizations at Calvin, fans of Coca-Cola were given an extra incentive to attend the annual event.
“One cool thing about [Cokes and Clubs] is that this is the one time you’ll find Coke on campus,” said Englin. Calvin has a contract with Pepsi that allows only Pepsi to be sold on campus.
In conjunction with Cokes and Clubs, the church fair was also a place of for students to peruse.
“The church fair is something to highlight too,” said Englin. For students searching for a church to attend, the fair provided an opportunity to look into churches in the Grand Rapids region.
