Hanging 20 feet in the air on a cliff side, Jeff Beachnau could see MSU's many student organizations below, each trying to draw interest to their groups.
The English freshman was taking part in a rock climbing event at Saturday's Party at the Aud, an event that encouraged students to get involved in campus organizations.
Beachnau said he was happy to participate in campus activities but was worried about classes starting.
"This is a good chance to meet people and see what goes on in more than just the dorm," he said.
Hundreds of students attended the event, which also offered candy, refreshments, ice cream, martial arts exhibits, basketball, rock climbing and fencing.
Booths with interests ranging from religious to political littered the field outside the Auditorium for students' perusal.
Mechanical engineering senior Chip Owen came to Party at the Aud representing Eco, a group which focuses is to better the environment.
Taking a break to wander around and see other groups, Owen said he signed up for Animosity, a group that meets to watch Japanese animation. The party, he said, opened him up to new opportunities.
"It informs students about what is going on, on campus," Owen said. "It is a good chance to get involved."
Social relations junior Heather Ricketts said the College Democrats booth she helped run spent this year persuading students to register to vote because there weren't many elections going on.
"We are starting early with the freshman class," Ricketts said. "Students are showing a lot of interest."
By the late afternoon, the group had 20 people sign up for information about the College Democrats.
Ricketts said the Party at the Aud worked faster than "knocking on doors to get people to register."
Non-MSU groups, like Direct Action, were also present at the event. Direct Action is a radical activist group that is protesting the war in Iraq.
"We are an organization that focuses on the injustice that occurs in America and foreign nations," said Lacey Harris, a Direct Action member and Lansing Community College junior.
Not everyone at the event was excited to see the student groups.
Sitting aside from the groups, English sophomore Craig Bowers said he didn't sign up for any groups and was just coming to get free gifts.
Bowers said student organizations don't accomplish enough for him to want to be a part of them.
"I find many student organizations to be filled with people out for the glory of saying they were making change," Bowers said. "Their opinions are just simply the opinions they have been told to believe."
Psychology junior Jordan Robinson said the group he represented, ASMSU, was happy to see students leaving their dorm rooms and coming to campus events.
"We (ASMSU) are one place to stick around," Robinson said of MSU's undergraduate student government. "They get to see lots of different organizations all in one place."
