Come one, come all

Bob Handelman

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At the Student Activities Bazaar this year, more than a thousand Yale College students staffed tables for 350-plus undergraduate clubs, from A Different Drum Dance Society to the Guild of Bookmakers to Student Partnerships for Global Health. Their goal: to woo energetic first-years to join their organizations. The recruitment extravaganza took place on September 2 in the Lanman Center of Payne Whitney gym. “Each group gets one chair, half a table, and three people—no extension cords,” says Assistant Dean of Yale College Hannah Rose Peck ’11MDiv, whose office has organized the annual event for the past four years. 

How do people attract attention in a crowd this big? “A lot of candy is given out,” says Peck, but “that’s just one of many tactics.” Some groups get creative. One pressed Elizabeth II into service (far right). And, Peck notes, the men’s water polo team made a splash by showing up in Speedos and swim caps.