Newswire photo by Jack Dunn | Xavier staff helped organize The Big College Event to show college students the opportunities Cincinnati holds before and after graduation.
Xavier staff helped plan The Big College Event, hosted by the Cincinnati Chamber of Commerce to give college-aged students in the city an opportunity to engage in the community professionally and socially.
This year, the second annual Big College Event was held on Wednesday, Oct. 24 at the Duke Energy Center. The free event highlighted the residential and employment opportunities in the Cincinnati region for new and upcoming professionals.
April Robles, Xavier’s senior assistant director for External Relations and Mentoring, described the event as “a mix of Club Day on the yard, Taste of Cincinnati and the Career Fair all wrapped into one.”
Xavier staff was involved with this event and provided various incentives for students to come, such as free hourly shuttles to the event.
When registering, students had the option to select a student club or organization they represented. Student organizations that had 10 students register and attend The Big College Event received $100 in additional club funding for their student organization budget. Individual Xavier students who registered were entered into a raffle to receive either a $100 Macy’s gift card or $100 gift card to the bookstore.
At the event, students were given the opportunity to make connections with prominent businesses in the community like Kroger, the Cincinnati Reds and Lime. Many businesses were looking to hire students for jobs or internships at the fair, including the Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden, Amazon, Fifth Third Bank and more.
The event also had resources specifically for building a resume, offering resume advising and headshots free of charge.
Students could get a “Taste of Cincinnati” from a variety of restaurants, including spooky BBQ from Montgomery Inn, veggie wraps from Findlay Market, chili from Skyline and ice cream from Graeter’s. Individual booths also had a variety of food. Jimmy John’s gave away chips and cookies while Thunderdome Restaurant Group, the business that owns Currito, was offering free chips and guacamole.
Several volunteer and community organizations were present at the fair, such as Habitat for Humanity and the YMCA of Greater Cincinnati.
By: Emilie Kracik | Staff Writer