PFW’s Backyard BBQ

Eli Jones | Fall 2022

Purdue Fort Wayne’s Student Activities Board held a Campus BBQ event during their Welcome Week activities, where students could participate in food, games, and other activities as long as they had their Student ID, school email, or student number. This event took place in the Science Mall, located in between Neff Hall and the Liberal Arts Building, on Aug. 24 from noon to 3 p.m.

When asked about all of the activities available during the event, James Valez, Director of Student Activities, said, “Food, games, giveaways, and music, are opportunities for students to just hang out with one another and to also get to know each other.”

Valez said the food provided for students were hamburgers, hot dogs, veggie burgers and brats. The meal also came with condiments, chips, pasta salad, and a drink.

Some of the games seen set up throughout the event were ladder ball, spike ball, giant Connect 4, cornhole, and a giant chess board for students to use.

“There are games that people can checkout so they can go play beyond the outdoor, large-scale games that we have,” Valez said.

Nathan Mills, Purdue Fort Wayne Student, said, “I got a hamburger, went and socialized with the cross-country team and just had a good time. We played some games, especially cornhole.”

“When you see all of the tables over there, it’s very specific to try and put chairs out with them so people can sit and meet new people and they can interact with each other.” said Valez.

Valez’s strategy of gathering the student body in one place to share a meal together and to play games with one another, seemed to have worked.

Tanveer Sings, Purdue Fort Wayne Student, said, “I made new friends, and saw a lot of old high school peers too.”

The event attracted a large number of students for the majority of the event, almost exceeding the anticipated number.  A total of 1,032 people attended the event, while the Student Activities Board had only anticipated 1,100 attendees.

“In the first 45 minutes we already had 600 people check in.” said Valez.

While talking about the rest of the Welcome Week events Valez said, “Most of our programs during Campus Kick Off are going to be geared towards our entire student body.”

To stay updated on upcoming events on the Purdue Fort Wayne Campus check out the Event Calendar on www.pfw.edu/events or follow @pfwsab on Instagram, @purduefw on twitter, or @PurdueFortWayne on Facebook.

To find information on how to join Purdue Fort Wayne’s Student Activities Board, go to Student Activities Board – Purdue Fort Wayne (pfw.edu) or email sab@pfw.edu or call 260-481-6595.

Purdue Fort Wayne Root Beer Float Social

Liv Colón and Sydney Hamblin | Fall 2022

As Purdue University Fort Wayne welcomes students for the new year, many events are underway to help students connect with peers and get involved with campus programs and resources. 

On Tuesday, Aug. 30, the Student Activities Board at PFW hosted the annual Community Engagement Fair and Root Beer Float Social. The event was held in the center of campus at the Science Mall and attracted many students and faculty members. 

The event took place on the PFW Science Mall from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. with the purpose of giving students the chance to grab a root beer float and check out local non-for-profit organizations to learn more about different service projects and opportunities around the Fort Wayne area. 

The social was part of the Campus Kickoff, a series of events hosted by the SAB. These events are put on to connect students to the various resources, opportunities, and extracurriculars that PFW has to offer to students. 

Other than just enjoying root beer floats, many students took the opportunity to walk through the tables set up by local non-profits. 

More than twenty booths were set up on the PFW Science Mall to give students the opportunity to engage with non-for-profit organizations in the Greater Fort Wayne community. Some of the organizations that attended the Root Beer Float Social were: Junior Achievement, Fort Wayne Trails, Community Harvest and Fort 4 Fitness.  

Many of the booths attended the campus kickoff event because their organizations were actively looking for volunteers. Sue Cassel, the founder of Max Cavie’s Guinea Pig Haven, said she has many guinea pigs in her shelter that her and her volunteers need help taking care of.  

“Guinea pigs need care 365 days a year… they live six to eight years, so people get tired of having them… we take them in and find them new homes.” 

Cassel said she has a small group of volunteers that help her take care of the animals they have in the shelter, but they’re looking to add to the group of volunteers they currently have.  

Indiana University Fort Wayne Senior, Adriahn Hindsley, also attended the event Tuesday. Hindsley said that she loves getting involved in and attending various PFW and IUFW events. 

“I try to get involved in any event I can, especially since I will be graduating this next spring,” Hindsley said.  

Hindsley said she likes the unique atmosphere of PFW and IUFW, she said it is different than other universities and that the atmosphere on campus is one of her favorite parts of being an IUFW Red Fox.  

Visit https://www.pfw.edu/microsites/campus-kickoff/ for more information about PFW’s 2022 campus kickoff events where students can enjoy tons of free food, giveaways and fun activities. 

Purdue Fort Wayne Connections Fair 2022

Emily Coverstone | Fall 2022

While students return to Purdue Fort Wayne and leave the summer behind, both staff and faculty of IUFW and PFW began the academic year by starting up the Campus Kickoff of 2022, which included their annual Connections Fair.

At Purdue Fort Wayne, the Connections Fair is a way for students to socialize with each other along with interacting with a wide variety of groups and organizations.

Around 20 different booths and tents were set up all around the Science Mall located on campus to showcase the broad variety of clubs and organizations that the school, both PFW and IU, had to offer for enrolled students. While some of the booths had snacks and knick-knacks to catch the attention of passing students, the Environmental Resource Center (ERC) booth had a not so furry friend named Clive to bring all the attraction.

Neighboring the ERC, sat the booth for The Q Center, located in Walb Student Union, Room 215 on campus. The Q Center is an organization found on campus for LGBTQ+ students who, if they ever need anything or a place to go, they can have one, while at school and away from home.

“A lot of the reasoning for our tabling is to say, ‘hey we are here, and these are the services we offer’.” said Vic Spencer, director of The Q Center.

Not only do students typically take advantage of the fair to meet new faces and get a free t-shirt or complimentary popcorn, but the clubs and organizations also take the few hours as a way of recruiting as many new faces as possible to keep their organizations running. One booth used the hours as an opportunity to succeed in class.

Even though the Campus Kickoff is under PFW, the IU Red Foxes have their own booths set up too, and this year a new booth was set up by a group of Red Fox Dental Hygiene students with complimentary toothpaste, toothbrushes, and teeth shaped chip clips.

“The fair is definitely a great opportunity to inform the student body of our clinic here on campus and the services we can provide there at discounted prices, and thanks to the fair, we got a lot of patients for the clinic, which will help us fill the requirements for our degrees.” Alana Lester, an IU junior dental hygiene student said.

As COVID hits its 3rd year of being around, a few clubs are beginning to regroup and get back on track, just like the Photography Club which has come back after a 2-year break.

 “This club was around for a while but was then disbanded in 2020 for COVID reasons”, said Madison Crisp, the president of the renewed Photography Club.

Students who enjoy photography could join the club to take trips to different places such as the Botanical Gardens in Fort Wayne or a Conservatory and take as many pictures as they please all the while making new friends who share the same interests as them.

The club had a booth set up to look for new members before many of the current members graduate in the Spring including Crisp and Vice President Iris Miller.

 With the 2022-2023 school year officially started, students can now go off and take part in clubs and organizations if they choose to do so with the information brought by the Connections Fair and Campus Kickoff.