Students find niches in new clubs

By Danielle Phillips

Each September the organizations on campus come together for Awareness Day to be showcased and to recruit new members. Despite the long list, students may not find a club that matches their interests. The solution for those students who experience this is to create new clubs to suit their needs. This is exactly what many groups of students have recently done.

Within the last school year, the SGA has approved six new clubs and reactivated four more.

In order to create a new club, students must follow a process that includes creating a constitution for their club, finding an adviser and gathering other students who share a common interest and have the same goals.

Entrepreneurial Studies Club
This club was approved in late October in an effort to provide support for a new, growing major in the Business Department. It provides an outlet for students to learn more about the major.

“The club provides a forum for successful entrepreneurs to come to Rider and talk about their experiences,” said President Justin Toth, a senior. “It also provides opportunities for student entrepreneurship and generally enhances students’ entrepreneurial spirit.”

One of the club’s recent events featured David Wolfskehl from Networking for Connections. An upcoming event will be a lecture provided by Greg Olsen, a famous entrepreneur. He will be speaking about “The Tale of 2 Start-Ups” on April 22.

Event Executives
Event Executives was started to support a new minor in the Department of Communication and Journalism. This club is composed of students who are interested in learning more about the field of event planning. Many members are involved in an event planning class, and the club hopes that it can provide an extension to the material presented in classes.

“It’s been a little bit of a slow start, but we are hoping to really get it moving in the near future,” said Secretary Michelle Bucknam, a senior.

Kristin Rockhill, the club’s first speaker, recounted her experiences in the business. Rockhill has appeared on The Style Network’s Whose Wedding is it Anyway?, and Married Away and in magazines like New Jersey Bride Magazine and The Knot, among others. The club hopes to have another speaker before the end of the semester.

REVD
REVD, a car club, was inactive until President Dave Yentema, a freshman, took the reigns to bring it back to campus. Reactivating a club is a little different than starting a new club, but it has come with just as many challenges.

“We are trying just about everything we can to get our name out this semester and hope to start holding events at the start of the fall semester,” he said. “I am enjoying the challenge of running this club and getting its name out.”

While the club is geared toward cars, according to Yentema, club members don’t necessarily have to own a car. All that is required is a general interest in and a willingness to have fun and make friends.

Chess Club
Led by senior Rob Sparling, the recently active Chess Club meets every Monday at 7 p.m. in the SRC Conference Room. Enthusiasts of the game meet to test their logic and skill.

The organization was even given the opportunity to compete in an out-of-state tournament; several members attended a competition in Miami over winter break.

Additionally, the Chess Club hosted its own tournament, which took place in the Rider Pub last Saturday. During last semester’s tournament, junior Brandon Copeland played his way to the top and took home the grand prize.

The experience gained through the clubs offered at Rider enhance the college experience for students by providing interaction with others with mutual interests. It is also a great way for new students to meet their peers and faculty.