On Thursday, Aug. 29, Branson held its annual Affinity Fair — an opportunity for students to sign up for the many affinity spaces available at Branson — but this year, Branson’s Director of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion, JuanCarlos Arauz, and the student DEI team held a special assembly in preparation.
The assembly one week in advance allowed students to explore affinity groups and engage in conversations within them before the fair in hopes of raising awareness, fostering discussion and promoting understanding of the various affinity spaces at Branson.
“I found the assembly even more useful than the affinity fair just because it was more interactive, and we were able to have conversations with people that identified with our affinity group,” said Will Suercher ’28, the leader of the Family Fun affinity.
Despite the success some found, issues arose with the assembly for others.
“I enjoyed the conversations we had, but I felt like the conversations were cut a bit short,” said Sarah Jones ’26, a leader of the Black Student Union.
The volume of participants also presented challenges.
“I think the conversations we had thanks to the assembly were really helpful, but I think it was confusing at times to find affinity groups with so many people being on the field at once,” said MJ Rodriguez ’26, a Woman of Color affinity group leader.
With Branson having the largest number of students in the school’s history this year, the Affinity fair the following day was buzzing with students signing up to join affinities.
“The affinity fair was a success; we got a lot of signups, especially from freshmen,” Rodriguez said.
Other affinity groups are hesitant to expect the affinity fair signup sheet to predict membership in meetings accurately.
“A lot of people sign up, which is nice, but not that many people actually come to affinity meetings,” Zuercher said. “Hopefully, with more events and awareness, we’ll change that.”
More than a month after the affinity fair, the affinity groups are now meeting regularly.
“We’ve had a retreat already, which was a really great way to build community. Attendance has been good so far, but we want to keep planning events and really show up as BSU in the Branson community,” Jones said.
“I think that overall, especially for a smaller affinity like ours, the Affinity Fair and the assembly were super helpful to spread the word about our affinity and reach people that, without the fair, we wouldn’t have been able to in the same way,” said Zuercher.
