On Monday, 1 p.m from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., Eastern will be hosting its Spring 2021 Pantherpalooza Student Involvement Fair. The fair will be held virtually through an online platform called CampusGroups, which was also used when Eastern hosted its first virtual Pantherpalooza last semester.

Pantherpalooza is a campus tradition that helps students explore their interests, make new friends, build their resumes, and develop leadership skills. It also helps give visibility to the many different RSOs on campus.

In past years, Eastern has hosted Pantherpalooza at the Grand Ballroom of the Martin Luther King Jr. Union. This year, Eastern has been hosting Pantherpalooza virtually in order to do its part in promoting social distancing and protecting the community from Covid.

This virtual experience will help students learn more about the 175+ Registered Student Organizations (RSOs) at Eastern and find ones that align with their personal hobbies and interests. Students will be able to learn more about the RSOs by browsing through RSO Booths and by speaking with the RSOs’ leaders and members via videoconferencing and live chats.

Eastern students can attend the Pantherpalooza Student Involvement Fair by signing into CampusGroups using their EIUNet ID and password the day of the fair. Eastern has sent a weblink to all Eastern students which they can use to sign in and attend the fair.

At last semester’s Pantherpalooza, Eastern gave students the opportunity to be entered into a grand prize drawing for a pair of AirPods. This semester, Eastern is keeping that trend going by entering students into a grand prize drawing for an iPad bundle that includes an iPad, case, and a Spotify gift card.

Furthermore, every 30 minutes during the fair, they will be giving away gift cards to places including Walmart, Starbucks, the EIU Bookstore, Amazon, McDonalds, and Dominos. All students have to do for a chance to win is attend the fair.

The deadline to setup virtual booths for the Spring Student Involvement Fair is Friday. If anybody wants to learn more information about the Pantherpalooza Student Involvement Fair, they can do so at https://www.eiu.edu/slo/studentinvolvementfair.php. They can also contact Eastern’s student government at [email protected] for more information.

Kyara Morales-Rodriguez can be reached at 581-2812 or [email protected].