Almost everyone tables on campus here at San Diego State University. Student organizations, like Associated Students and the fraternities and sororities, or even clubs, like Mortar Board and the American Medical Student Association, table to interact with the students they encounter for various reasons, whether it be to promote their events, or recruit for their organization.
Although it may seem simple – get a table, e-z up, and some flyers and you're ready to go – it's definitely not that easy. Here at SDSU there is an extensive process you must first go through in order to be allowed to table on campus. Only recognized clubs and student organizations associated with SDSU are given permission to table.
The first step to getting this permission is filling out paperwork through Student Life and Leadership, explaining where, when what, and just about every detail as to why you would like to table. The rules on tabling are quite strict, restricting most things, like food and drinks, for liability purposes and forcing student groups to plan far in advance if they would like to table in time for their event.
The paperwork takes awhile to process, and the more you want to do with your table, like allowing beverages or having actual activities, the more paperwork you will need to complete. And although it may not be an easy task at first, tabling is the easiest way to reach a mass amount of the population here at SDSU and many utilize it, even church groups.
The Rock Church and Flood Church have both been seen tabling on campus, handing out flyers about their church services and encouraging SDSU students to join them. The Flood Church was even on campus last week, offering students free iced coffee, explaining after they had drew them in with the coffee that they were really there to invite students to their Easter mass. They are associated with student church groups on campus, giving them the loophole they needed to be given permission to table on campus.
Although it may seem like a great opportunity for them to publicize their events, it seems a little deceiving to students. They are drawn into tables advertising free coffee and completely blindsided, forced to talk about their religious preferences. While they have every right to table on campus, shouldn't they at least give students the heads up to their purpose? Some students would rather not talk about religion on their way to class and they should be given a warning when approaching a table.
“I had no idea the table was a church group,” liberal studies junior Janie Roan said. “All I saw was the big sign saying 'free iced coffee' and ran over. How could any college student resist free coffee? I was pretty surprised to find out that the table was actually advertising for their Easter mass, feeling a little mislead. Nowhere on the table did it say that they were a church group and I don't think that was fair to me, someone who doesn't feel comfortable talking about religion very openly.”
With all the very specific tabling rules that are in place, there should also be rules in place requiring tables to clearly display what groups they are associated with. Students should have the opportunity to know exactly what group they are approaching, so there is no confusion nor blindsiding. Tabling groups should always be upfront with students and students should feel comfortable on their campus, that's just the way it should be.
