RECRUITMENT WEEK (RecWeek) 2015: The Grand Spectacle served as the Ateneans’ first glimpse of this year’s accredited organizations in the Ateneo.

Situated in the Manuel V. Pangilinan Center for Leadership (MVP) Roof Deck, RecWeek was held from August 24 to 28 and was comprised of booths, raids, and programs aimed at encouraging students to sign up for organizations.

With a theme that centered on carnivals, the RecWeek team made all efforts to organize a successful event.

“We really hope that RecWeek [highlighted] a vibrant and flourishing campus life,” said Council of the Organizations of the Ateneo (COA) President Yesu Hernandez.

COA is the confederation of accredited organizations in the Ateneo.

Over the years

According to Hernandez, the goal throughout previous RecWeeks has always been to improve from the previous ones.

He added that a significant development this year was the organizations’ participation in the planning of the event.

According to RecWeek Head Jerome Lim, major decisions for the event such as the venue layout and theme were decided upon through consultation sessions called “RecWeek pitches” among COA organization representatives, the Confederation of Publications (COP), and the Sanggunian.

According to the cluster heads, the shift in the academic calendar  not serve as an impediment to the preparations for RecWeek.

Lim explained that the extended summer vacation from June to July provided the RecWeek team with ample time to plan and prepare by setting early deadlines in order to easily address possible logistical dilemmas.

Among the issues that surfaced during preparations was the clash of themes between RecWeek and the John Gokongwei Student Enterprise Center (JSEC) Challenge 2015.

The JSEC Challenge is a competition held among all students interested in putting up a business in JSEC. The contest is co-organized by the Ateneo Management Association.

However, Business Cluster Head Misha Samonte praised this year’s RecWeek team for being considerate and open in addressing the issue.

“[The RecWeek team was] able to work out a compromise that worked for both parties. I’m glad that at least that issue was handled very well,” said Samonte.

According to Hernandez, finding a more efficient means of dissemination of information was another issue they addressed.

Faith Formation Cluster Head Justin Viray said that the organizations “stepped up” in promotions this year, with the cluster heads extending support to their assigned organizations in terms of promoting and distributing information.

“We try to make communication as streamlined as possible. There [are] still lots of opportunities for [internal] growth,” said Hernandez.

Moreover, Sector Based Cluster Head Erin Feliciano said that they implemented a system called “Weekly Scopes,” wherein online announcements are carefully organized and summarized for a clear and systematic circulation of information.

A roof deck carnival

According to Hernandez, COA chose to depict a carnival for RecWeek to represent the different organizations in the university and the excitement they offered.

“[A carnival] shows the variety of the different things happening in the circus and [in] COA, diba we have different clusters. We do a lot of things and I think a carnival speaks well about the diversity, and the fun, and the work that we put,” he said.

Media and the Creative Arts Cluster Head Iana Tanchanco and Health and Environment Cluster Head Pocholo Espina shared that the goal of their respective clusters this year is to convey the message of living their advocacies and to gain even more members.

On the other hand, Feliciano and Science and Technology Cluster Head Jurel Yap said they wanted to reassert cluster identity and emphasize a sense of family.

This year the organizations were more “collaborative and emanated the spirit of bayanihan [or a spirit of cooperation],” according to Lim.

He cited that the RecWeek team found space for collaboration among the clusters by creating a RecWeek video that was released on August 22.

Distinction and diversity

According to Hernandez, another significant change this year was the shift in title from “Loyola Schools RecWeek” to “COA RecWeek.”

The rebranding of the event as COA Recweek was made to reaffirm the identity of RecWeek as a service by COA primarily for the accredited organizations, and which extends to the Sanggunian, COP, and the student political parties.

Lim also stated that for 2015, the team pushed for more exposure outside the Ateneo by utilizing and maximizing outlets in social media.

“To send the message of the excitement (and importance) of joining orgs and being active even outside the classroom, this year’s team [aimed] to be present in different aspects of Ateneans’ student lives,” added Lim.

This year, the team partnered with renowned sponsors such as Magic 89.9 radio station and ABS-CBN Publishing, a Filipino magazine owned by the ABS-CBN Corporation.

According to Lim, the RecWeek team also opted for partnerships with other industries that covered fast-moving consumer goods, food, telecommunications, and health and wellness to mirror the diversity of organization life in the Ateneo.

Hernandez said, “we know that organization life is very crucial in an Atenean’s life and we do our best to make RecWeek not only a recruitment activity, [but more of] a celebration of organization life.”