This year Creighton University’s annual Skutt Shutdown hosted 350 clubs and organizations and had a turnout of a couple thousand students. The event aims to help with engagement on campus, especially for the new freshman class. 

Although it rained during the Aug. 29 event, that didn’t stop any of the festivities, filling the KFC basketball courts and Skutt Student Center with booths of eager representatives from each club. According to Sarah Giacomini, Associate Director of the Student Leadership and Involvement Center, the event saw over 2,600 attendees. 

“It’s hard to kind of get your club out there just on social media, so it’s great for the students to come up to our table, learn more about us, and see how excited we all are about it and how authentically we truly love our club,” Alexis Murphy, a sophomore in the College of Arts and Sciences and Executive Director of Communication and Creative Media for the Active Minds club, said. 

The club organizers are not the only ones who have been eagerly awaiting Skutt Shutdown.Giacomini said she has been planning this event since May.  

“I love watching all students, new and returning, find their niche [and] find their home. I am really appreciative of the 350 club presidents we have at Creighton.I’m in charge of clubs and organizations, but they are the ones who really run it, soI’m grateful for their passions and interests,” Giacomini said.  

Freshmen signed up for various clubs throughout the night while enjoying a free taco in a bag and ice cream sundaes, provided by Sodexo. Organizations’ tables had candy and information aplenty, giving freshman and other students a wide look into everything Creighton’s clubs have to offer.  

“It was super fun signing up for as many clubs as possible [and] seeing what I like and what I don’t. I was looking forward to this over the past two weeks, and it definitely lived up to my expectations,” Rhiannon Sloan, a freshman in the College of Arts and Sciences, said. 

The sentiment of club and organization representatives was overall “just sign up,” Murphy, Vice President of CULSA Serena Martinez and Senator in the Heider Business Senate Grace Buss all said.  

Murphy and Martinez both said Skutt Shutdown was where they joined their clubs as freshmen. In leadership positions within those clubs now,they credit these opportunities to finding their respective organizations during the Skutt Shutdowns of years prior.  

Balloon arches and free food aside, Skutt Shutdown was a success for many clubs as new students began their journey of campus engagement.