Carnival

Club Fair at BRAC University;
acquiring knowledge through passion

Rakibul Hasan

Even before entering the premises of BRAC University anyone would understand that something festive was going on inside. The soothing tunes of a flute, vibrant beats of a 'dhol' and the exuberance of hundreds of students marked the celebration of BRAC University Club fair. Students and faculty members of the BRAC University celebrated their club fair on 30 October participated by all the thirty-one student clubs of the university. At the beginning of every session a club fair is jointly organised by the university administration and all the club members to introduce new students with the prospect of extra curricular activities in BRAC University. This October the club fair was arranged in the middle of the fall session to provide a platform for all the clubs to project their activities on different issues and to encourage newcomers in the campus to join different clubs which serve the area of their interest. 'It is mandatory to join at least one club for every student of our university so all my friends are engaged in different extra curricular activities which really helps them to acquire practical knowledge on certain issues and this also increases their potentials on certain fields like culture, business etc' said Samiul a student from BBA 4th semester of BRAC University.

The fair was inaugurated by the Pro-Vice Chancellor of the BRAC University Professor Md. Golam Samdani Fakir. Later he expressed a few words to the students and visited booths of different clubs. Students of BRAC University celebrated the day with great spirit. Alongside, small colourful rallies were carried out by clubs inside the fair venue with festoons and members announced their motto at the top of their voice, loud music was playing on the speaker. “For me one of the main attractions of the club fair is that I can enjoy a day of great fun with all of my university friends” said Shakil a student from BBA 9th semester.

This year the chief organiser of the club fair was the BRAC University heritage club (BUHC). 'Discover Bangladesh through your eyes' with this motto the heritage club attended the fair. 'We are really very proud to be the chief organiser of the club fair this time. It will help us a lot to encourage more people to visit and to protect the heritage sites of our country' said Quazi Rumman the acting president of the BRAC University heritage club. The goal of the heritage club is to develop the concept of heritage among the students, to develop awareness about the past of Bangladesh and to learn the value and preserve our traditional artifacts. Every semester the club visits popular heritage sites of Bangladesh like Moynamoti, Mahasthagarh, Panam Nagar and many other places.

After every tour the members of the heritage club prepare a visual presentation and demonstrate it in the university cafeteria, which helps other students to understand the beauty and value of particular sites of historical importance. 'We publish an editorial on every semester in which students can share their views about our heritage and how to represent them to the international community” says Najmus Sakib a member and also the former president of the heritage club. The Heritage Club also longs for cultural exchanges with the international community. In this vision BUHC jointly with the Embassy of Thailand are planning to arrange a Pan Thai festival in which artifacts from both Thailand and Bangladesh will be displayed.

The agenda of the fair was divided in two parts firstly introducing different clubs to the new students so that clubs can sign up new members and later a cultural program organized by the BRAC University Cultural Club. Members of the cultural club performed dances, songs and different fun things at the program. A one-day film festival is also to be organized by the BRAC University Film Club on Sunday 3rd October 2010 in which famous films like In Burgges. The Expendables are to be shown.

One of the main objectives of the BRAC University club fair was to provide an opportunity for the students to choose their favorite ones from thirty-one different clubs. Students may have different choices about extra curricular activities so clubs at BRAC University are concerned with popular activities like drama or sports and also serious issues like enhancing entrepreneurship abilities or rural development. Talking with the star campus Professor Md. Golam Samdani Fakir the Pro-Vice Chancellor of the BRAC University expressed his satisfaction over the achievement of his students in extra curricular activities. 'We don't want that our students will be graduated from the University only with bookish knowledge. They should have practical experiences on different issues, which will help to develop their career and to understand their surroundings' said Professor Samdani. According to Professor Md. Golam Samdani Fakir attending extra curricular activities increases the confidence level of the students and it also grows leadership quality in them. Being busy in different club activities also keeps the students away from antisocial habits like addiction to drugs, gossiping and so on. The pro vice chancellor also said that they are very concerned that attending club activities should not hamper the education. Students should have a minimum CGPA to attend in club activities. For example to be a member of the BRAC University law club a student should have a CGPA of 3.5. The pro vice chancellor is also very proud about the awards and recognitions these clubs have brought for his University and Bangladesh. Recently the Moot Court Society of the BRAC University has achieved the honor of being one of the top ten memorials at the international level of Henry Dunant Moot Court Competition in Hong Kong.

Miftah a student from the BBA 11th semester was shadow practicing with drum sticks in a corner. 'I have to perform today in the cultural program. Music is my passion and my club provides me with great opportunities to practice music' said Miftah. During the club fair the senior students of the university get united with all their friends from different departments while the junior students get to know their seniors and facts about university life. The level of enthusiasm among students about the fair can be understood by the remark of Nora a student from EEE 2nd semester 'the club fair is like an Eid day for us we wait all through the year to celebrate this great day of fun and reunion'. The BRAC University club fair is really a place of union for its students where they get the chance to engage themselves in activities to follow their passion.