Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania: On Campus Extracurricular Activities

Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania is a member of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE). With over 8,000 students, it is just the perfect size and you will never feel like a number. The tight knit community offers plenty of ways to meet people and make new friends on campus. There are many extracurricular organizations with plenty of members that don't require a big time commitment.

Here are some of the most popular options to choose from:

The Program Board gives you the chance to help plan non-alcoholic activities for students. Some of the most well received programs are Midnight Pizza, Bingo games, a "Deal or No Deal" evening, free film showings, and off campus excursions to popular tourist destinations such as New York City and Toronto.

When you sign up for Program Board, you can choose to work on one or more of several committees: films, games/Bingo, public relations, travel, soundstage, special events, and dance. Eventually, you may be able to move into an executive board position and lead one of these committees. You can sign up for events based on when you are available and want to volunteer.

One of the groups that continue to grow every year is the Bloomsburg University Dance Ensemble. Membership is open to all students who show up for an introductory meeting in September and successfully audition to perform in up to four dances. One of their main goals is to add a new dance to the show each year. Along with performing classic dances such as tap, ballet, and jazz, the group has added swing dance, country western, acro-dance (a combination of gymnastics and dance), Latin, and break dancing; among others.

The Ensemble is completely student run; members teach classes and choreograph routines for the annual spring recital. The show is very popular with the student body and packed the auditorium for both performance nights in March. Members may also be in the annual Homecoming Parade or Tree Fest; a town Christmas celebration.

If you like the idea of having a built in group of friends, fraternity or sorority rush may be for you. Bloomsburg has 14 sororities (including multicultural, Latina, and historically black groups) and 11 fraternities. Each semester, potential members sign up for recruitment activities, go through formal and informal events to meet the different groups, and may eventually receive a bid (invitation) to join a Greek house.

Greek Life is not for everyone, and takes up a lot of time once you accept a bid. If you pledge, you will need to attend various meetings, spend time with your pledge class by eating meals or doing other things together, and go to mandatory library hours. However, the bonds you form with your brothers and sisters will give you a lot of memories throughout your college years and beyond.

If you like to write, you may consider being a writer for The Voice, Bloomsburg's award winning student newspaper. You can sign up to write regardless of your major and choose which sections of the paper that you most want to write for, then stick with those. You will get a choice of assignments from a student editor each week, and can select which one to write about. You are not expected to write all the time and can opt out of the mailing list if you are no longer interested.

If being behind the scenes is more your thing, The Voice also offers opportunities to work in public relations, advertising sales, copy editing, and web design/editing.

For the musically inclined, there are instrumental and vocal ensembles available. Some are open join and for others, you have to successfully audition. You can choose from the Maroon and Gold Band, which offers marching band in the fall and concert band in the spring. There is also a jazz ensemble, a University/Community orchestra, and a chamber orchestra.

Singers should check out the Chamber Singers (mixed/small group), Concert Choir (larger group/mixed), Women's Choral Ensemble (open join), and Husky Singers (men's group; open join).

All of the musical performance groups hold concerts on and off campus at many points throughout the year. They may also tour to large cities such as Boston or Washington D.C. to perform in churches and take in the sights.

If you're looking to stay in shape while making friends, check out the schedule of aerobics classes held at the Student Recreation Center. These classes are free and student taught. You can choose from yoga, kickboxing, toning classes, and circuit exercises. Classes usually run anywhere from half an hour to an hour and you can enroll in as many as you want.

This is not meant to be an exhaustive list of things to do at Bloomsburg University. If you're considering Bloomsburg and want to learn more about the activities mentioned and other offerings, visit the University's website linked to in the reference section.