Spring time in Towson is always exciting. From the unpredictable weather to all of the different themed events going on around campus, there is always something fun going on. Have you ever wondered who makes events like Tigerfest and the Homecoming Concert possible? Meet Chad Nazworth. He’s a senior double majoring in Economics and International Studies. He’s also the director of the Campus Activities Board (CAB) and this week’s Campus Celebrity.
HCTU: When did you get involved with CAB?CN: “I was a programming chair last year, in my junior year. In that February I was selected to be the director and I’ve been doing that since then.”
HCTU: What sparked your interest in this being a part of CAB?CN: “I had a lot of friends in the organization so I met people that were previously in the group, that have since graduated. So I started coming to general member meetings a little more. I was like, ‘This actually seems like something I would like to do.’ I was in SGA at the time so I was around the office, I saw them more. I was like, ‘This seems like a lot of fun.’ So I applied to be a programming chair and got that position and I have been involved ever since.”
HCTU: How can someone get involved with CAB?CN: “You can be part of CAB by just coming to our regular meetings on Wednesday nights. We have 40-50 general members that come to those meetings. We hang out and play games, talk about our upcoming events and talk about ways they can volunteer and help us out; that’s the primary responsibility of our general members, it’s to be a part of the events whether it’s planning them, coordinating the activities to get them ready, or helping at the actual event.”
HCTU: What tips do you have for people who want to do what you do?CN: “You don’t have to be in CAB to plan events. There’s lots of organizations on our campus that plan awesome events for the students. To get involved with the different things that I do you just have to find a group that you’re passionate about and see how you can help them plan their types of events. Whether that’s a service organization, something that has to do with the community, something that has to do with your culture or background, or something else that has to do with academics, there’s groups for all of those things that all plan events and all need assistance.”
HCTU: How has this created connections for you personally and academically?CN: “A really big piece that I’ve definitely gained is a really large network at Towson by being in this organization. So not only interacting with people around the office, professional staff members, people within student activities and new student programs, but also working with larger administrators about key issues. So when we’re talking about Tigerfest, when we talk about the safety of students, that’s not necessarily on everybody’s mind but it’s definitely on our’s when we’re planning these type of events that definitely impact our students. So meeting with people within administration and the Division of Student Affairs to ensure that we are guaranteeing safety to our students was a big piece. It’s definitely just help me in my personal life as well just maturing me and making me more of a leader, expanding that into my classroom experience as well.”
HCTU: Where do you see yourself in five years?CN: “Ideally, in five years, I’ll give you my dream. I’ll be living in Seattle. I’ll be running my own event planning organization with connections to different partner universities and stuff within the area. I’ll be having fun. I’ll have two dogs, Great Danes. I don’t know, I want the rest to just surprise me.”
HCTU: What do you want people to take away from this interview?CN: “CAB does amazing things and we’re here for students. The events we plan are planned by students, for other students. We try our best to keep your feedback in mind. The biggest thing that I can offer is that our door is almost always open and people are more than welcome to come in and say, ‘I want to see this on our campus. I want this to happen.’ My favorite example of that is about three or four years ago, are you familiar with the event Survive Towson? That’s our large zombie event we have across campus and that was actually a student’s idea that they emailed us and came to our office like, ‘I want zombies on campus.’ And we were able to do it. We were able to come up with tons of ideas and make that event happen for that student and it’s become an awesome campus tradition for us. So we use student fees so we look for student feedback as much as we can to make things happen on campus for our students.”
If you’re interested in getting involved with some of the events that happen on campus, you can attend CAB’s Wednesday night weekly meetings at 6 p.m. at UU306. Follow them on Twitter @TowsonCAB and feel free to walk into their office at UU226.