Master’s students Elliott Brandon (seated) and Enna Durakovic (standing, at right) talk to UMSL students about the Student Entrepreneur Club during the Student Involvement Jamboree on Wednesday in the Millennium Center. Around 70 student organizations and 25 campus departments set up tables for the event, which is held at the start of every semester to introduce students to the many opportunities and resources available to them on the UMSL campus. (Photos by Derik Holtmann)
As a sociology major, Julee Chau is interested in how people connect with one another.
Heading into the 2026 spring semester, Chau decided to create a crochet club at the University of Missouri–St. Louis, seeing it as an opportunity to turn a creative hobby into a way for students to meet and find a sense of belonging on campus. After working with the Office of Student Involvement to formally establish the organization, Chau took advantage of last January’s Student Involvement Jamboree to introduce the club to her fellow Tritons and begin attracting members.
“I started this club last semester just because I think crocheting is an activity that you can really build community with,” she said. “It’s something that people can learn, you can teach, and just have fun, that was my main thing.”
The club quickly found an audience, and in April, the Crochet Club was recognized during OSI’s Student Leadership Awards ceremony, winning the New Organization of the Year Award. With membership standing at 81 entering the current academic year, Chau, now a senior and president of the club, was back at the Student Involvement Jamboree on Wednesday, along with club member Lily Polewski, hoping to connect with more students.
UMSL Crochet Club president Julee Chau (right) and club member Lily Polewski display a few pieces of their craft during the Student Involvement Jamboree.
“I think this is a wonderful event,” said Polewski, a junior business major, when asked about the jamboree. “We’ve gotten a lot of interest, and quite a few people have signed up.”
Held at the beginning of each semester, the event hosted by OSI helps students explore the many ways they can get involved in areas they’re passionate about. Around 70 student organizations and 25 campus departments set up tables throughout the Millennium Student Center for Wednesday’s event, which had 379 students check in through Triton Connect.
In addition to boosting club membership, Jairo Javier Morales, UMSL’s coordinator of community and belonging, said the jamboree offers an opportunity for campus departments and offices to connect with students and make them aware of the employment opportunities and resources available to them.
“This is our way of trying to get some student groups rejuvenated, get more people involved,” Morales said.
The possibilities for involvement are plentiful, which came as a pleasant surprise to Hannah Richardson. A sophomore in the School of Engineering, Richardson said she missed out on previous jamborees, and it was almost overwhelming to see so many tables for all of the groups filling up the Century Rooms and around the second- and third-floor rotundas.
“Before coming here, I didn’t really know how much UMSL had to offer extracurricular-wise,” she said. “I didn’t know we had a crochet club, I didn’t know we had a physics club, I didn’t know we had so many different things. I didn’t know how many sororities and fraternities were on campus for sure. But it’s just really cool seeing everyone in one place.”
Richardson said she was very appreciative of the opportunity to get connected with various groups on campus, and she made sure not to leave without taking advantage.
“With the physics club, I just joined their page on Triton Connect because I thought I was really interested in that,” she said. “But all of the groups have really easy ways to get in touch with everyone and stay involved after this jamboree is over, which I think is really nice.”
Enna Durakovic, an accelerated master’s student in the Ed. G. Smith College of Business, said she had attended the jamboree a few times previously, and she has always been impressed by how inviting the atmosphere is during the event. On Wednesday, while sitting at a table representing the Student Entrepreneur Club at UMSL’s Innovation Center, Durakovic said how much she values the welcoming community on the UMSL campus.
UMSL computer science graduate student and physics alum Jesse Bier (at right) talks about the Physics and Astronomy Club to potential members during the Student Involvement Jamboree.
“Regardless of if you’re going to join a club or not, people are so nice to you, and they generally want to help you get around or get connected,” she said. “I feel like our generation can be so closed off, like they’re afraid of being judged. But I feel like here at UMSL, people are just passionate about whatever they’re passionate about. If you’re passionate about entrepreneurship, you join the club, and you’re welcomed with open arms. That’s what I really like about it.”
Sitting with Durakovic at the EIC table, Elliott Brandon, a second-year master’s student in the College of Business, also appreciated the opportunity the jamboree provides for students and organizations to connect. Having attended the event previously, Brandon said he has seen firsthand how the gathering can help students discover what UMSL has to offer.
Brandon added that the willingness of clubs to collaborate with one another can strengthen individual organizations while creating a greater sense of community across campus. Rather than competing for the same pool of students, organizations can work together to introduce more Tritons to the opportunities available through UMSL’s various groups.
“I think everyone’s very happy and really wants to work with any kind of other club,” Brandon said. “It increases engagement within your own club, but it also helps with outreach. If we can band together and share what the business school in general has to offer at UMSL, rather than nitpick and target people for certain clubs, I think it’s a lot better for the community.”
That same spirit of connection was on display at the table for the Pierre Laclede Honors College Student Association, where junior computer science student Armando Montoya and sophomore sociology student Delaney Dunn were promoting upcoming events and encouraging students to learn more about the Honors College. Dunn said the jamboree is particularly valuable because students can have meaningful conversations with members of organizations in person rather than having to reach out to them on their own.
“It’s a great way to talk to someone face to face,” Dunn said. “For me personally, I don’t want to email someone and be like, ‘Hey, can I join your event?’ That’s just awkward, so seeing people in person and getting to really talk to them and feel the vibe of different groups is really cool.”
For Montoya, simply seeing so many students gathered in one place is part of what makes the jamboree special.
“It brings up my spirit to see everyone here because it’s not all the time you can see this many people,” he said. “They all congregate just to hang out and just to see things, find things that they like, are interested in and want to join.”
Information about different events and student organizations can be found by visiting Triton Connect.
