Economics majors instantly see the value in CLASS

Damilola “Lola” Quadry and Sewuese Sophia Tor revive the Instant CLASSic event to introduce other students to all that’s offered in the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences

As the largest of the 12 colleges at UH, the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences is home to 16 schools and departments, encompassing the creative and performing arts, humanities, and social sciences.

With such a huge scope of academic interests and activities, it can be difficult for students to be aware of the vast resources available within the college.

So, students Damilola “Lola” Quadry and Sewuese Sophia Tor stepped up to co-chair this year’s Instant CLASSic, an event that that offers every department and organization associated with the college a forum to introduce themselves and explain what they offer to the UH campus.

“This event began in 2012 as a way to bring together departments, clubs, and other organizations to showcase the opportunities they offer,” said Tor.

Although the first Instant CLASSic was a success, the event stalled in 2013 because the previous student leaders had graduated. However, Quadry and Tor saw the value in the event and were instrumental in its resurgence.

“I was really pleased when Lola and Sophia came by to tell me they wanted to revive the Instant CLASSic. They did all the work to get it going again,” said Dr. Sarah Fishman, Associate Dean of Undergraduate Studies. “Their energy, dedication and enthusiasm for the college are truly contagious. CLASS is truly fortunate to have such wonderful students.”

With a small budget from the Dean’s office, Tor and Quadry contacted each department and organization within CLASS to invite them to participate in Instant CLASSic. They set up an outdoor event with tables for each participating organization to hand out information and talk with students.

“We are planned the event for the spring, so that students could go into the fall semester fully prepared with all the information they need regarding CLASS,” said Quadry.

They organized the Instant CLASSic while balancing their classwork. Both Quadry and Tor are Economics majors with Quadry graduating in May and Tor expecting to graduate in May 2015.
Tor plans to chair the Instant CLASSig in the 2014-2015 academic year.

“Hopefully, after next year, I will be able to pass the responsibility along to another CLASS student who can coordinate all the associated activities,” she said. “We want Instant CLASSic to go on long after we graduate.”

- By Monica Byars