100% Engagement: Becoming a Part of Something

FESO is comprised of 36 business-related clubs, with over 1,500 members who learn, lead, and give back to the community through their volunteer work. Although each organization has its own distinct identity – everything from the American Marketing Association to the Eller African American Honorary – they all come together to conduct leadership for service, forums, and meetings with college leadership, as well as speaker series and career events for students.

“Leadership Fest is a recruiting event for all FESO clubs,” explained Marisa Trevino, leadership and engagement coordinator for Eller undergraduate programs, who planned the event. “It’s an opportunity for the club leaders to connect with business students, and for business students to find an organization that helps build their resumes and get involved in the Eller community.”

Since the semester got underway, students have been joining clubs, attending their first meetings, and applying or rushing business fraternities to make the most of their Eller experience. “We’ve gotten good feedback from students who attended Leadership Fest,” said senior MIS and management major Almog Paz, who helped Trevino coordinate the event. “We’ve heard that students are interested in joining multiple clubs, and it is a great opportunity for pre-business students to meet mentors and friends with similar interests socially and academically.”

This year, students participated in breakout sessions to meet more members and learn about the clubs in a meeting-like environment.

Along with the 36 FESO organizations attending the event, four strategic campus partners that focus on professional development, leadership, and academics were there to advise students, and Eller facilitated intramural sign-ups to support athletic leadership, teamwork, and a healthy academic/life balance. Ultimately, students who signed up formed five different intramural teams.

This year, for the first time, Leadership Fest took advantage of the new Professional Development Center facility. “This event is so large, the Student Union ballroom was the only place to hold our student population,” said Trevino. “Now with the Professional Development Center complete, we were able to host it at Eller, which is the perfect way for students to begin their #ellerexperience.”