By Britney Ellis Rahman-Trudel – Contributor

SRC Extras Day is a biannual event held as part of Orientation Week at the beginning of the fall and winter semesters to introduce student organisations to each other as well as to the student body. The newest edition took place on Jan. 15 in The Gait and saw over 40 different clubs, committees, academic societies and student associations, including ten brand new ones, come together to introduce themselves to the Bishop’s community.

Despite the smaller turnout of students, a usual expectation for the winter edition of Extras Day, the students both  attending and acting as leads and co-leads for the various represented organisations were still able to get the visibility the event is designed to create. Megan McCrudden, co-lead of the brand new Bishop’s University Cooking Club (@bu.cookingclub), illustrated the point: “The club just started, so it’s nice to have a table so that people can see it.”

Erica Berger-Lewis, co-lead of the BU Off-Campus Social Club (@offcampus_bu) remarked that “it’s a really cool idea to bring everybody together. It’s a chance to create a collaborating community bringing everybody together,” drawing attention to the opportunity for clubs to meet, interact, and collaborate.

The primary aim of the event, creating awareness among the student body, seems to have also been achieved. First-year education student Nyla Rossi offered that it “gives you opportunities to see what’s on offer,” remarking that she “didn’t know half these clubs existed,” and that “it’s nice to see that there’s a club for history and a club for education.”

The number of clubs, societies, associations and other organizations is growing each semester in partnership with the SRC. There are now more opportunities than ever before for students of any niche interest be that swimming (@bu.swimmingclub), sexual culture (@healthysexculture_bu), or more academic concerns such as English literature (@bu.englit.society) or accounting (@bu_accountingsociety) to find community within the Bishop’s campus. As Erica Berger-Lewis puts it, “It’s crazy how many clubs we have for such a small university.”

The current listing of clubs available via the SRC website counts 56 different groups, making for an average of one club, sports team, academic society or student association for every 50 students enrolled, and SRC Extra Manager Sasha Kardos-Machado admits that not all of them are listed yet. SRC Extras Day put it all on display all at once, allowing a proper full look at the diversity offered within the Bishop’s community.