JACOB WATSON
LIBERAL COLUMNIST

On Friday, Jan. 1, students roamed through the J. C. Williams Center to see what the diverse clubs on campus had to offer at Franciscan University of Steubenville’s semesterly club fair.
While the club turnout was less than last semester’s club fair, with the notable absence of Franciscan University Student Government, the over a dozen clubs present were passionate and excited to share their goals with their fellow students.
The limited club fair still showed a quality representation of old and new clubs alike. Clubs like Latinos for Christ, Instruments of Peace and Voice of the Martyrs (among others) were present with new clubs like the re-founded Students for Life, the Veritas Society and the Dominican Spirituality Club.
One new club present was the recently re-founded Students for Life, now affiliated with the national group “Students for Life of America.” Kyle Taggart, president of Students for Life, explained the change, saying, “our main goal is to renew political activism regarding abortion on Franciscan University’s campus” instead of its old catechetical-focused affiliation with Values Outreach.
Regarding the reason for the political focus, Taggart said that he saw “just an absolute lack of political involvement” on campus. With its new presence on campus, the club organizes petitions on campus, volunteers weekly at the AIM Women’s Center and invites pro-life speakers to campus.
Another new club, the Veritas Society, has its own unique way of sparking discussion on campus. John Selle, club officer, explained that the society’s goal is to “stimulate intellectual exchange among the students on the campus” in ways such as organizing seminars to understand and refute non-Catholic worldviews and hosting debates to discuss issues where practicing Catholics can disagree.
The most visible event by the Veritas Society may be its “Dumb Ox Debates.” Selle said that, while the debates did not have many attendees at first, “we’ve moved from the Fireside Lounge to the Gallery … (and) we’ve filled the Gallery up pretty well.” The Veritas Society plans to continue its seminars and debates throughout this semester.
The students who came to see the different clubs appreciated the opportunity. John Murphy, sophomore, said, “it was good to see the various clubs Franciscan has to offer and to truly understand how I can best be involved in student life.”
To find out more about the clubs present at the fair as well as the multitude of other clubs on campus, students can visit: franciscan.smartcatalogiq.com/en/2018-2019/Undergraduate-Catalog/Student-Life-Clubs.