On campus this year, three new clubs have been established: the eSports Club, the Photography Club and the Health and Wellness Club. These clubs existed before on campus, but on Thursday, Sept. 6, they were approved by the Student Government Association to receive a budget.
Rob DeFazio, the director of the Center for Activities, Recreation and Leadership/Richter Recreation Center, works closely with the various clubs on campus.
“To go through the process [of starting a new club] isn’t difficult, it’s just making sure there are enough students interested in the club that a certain student or students are interested in starting,” DeFazio said. “Students do have interest meetings and from there you kind of find out. Do 30 or 60 people show up or do two?”
DeFazio said that as far as resources for new clubs go, there are many professionals on campus who might have expertise on the club’s interests. Financial assets are not provided for clubs until they have been established by the SGA.
“According to the constitution, [new clubs] would wait a year after approval to get a regular allocation such as other clubs and organizations that have been established for years,” said DeFazio. “Once they’re approved, if they want to get a regular allocation, they can apply for a grant through SGA, which then SGA would determine whether they were going to get any funding through the grant.”
Robbie Chulick, the assistant director of the CARL and Richter Recreation Center, also works with student leaders and organizations across campus.
“We have about 65 active clubs just within Student Government Association that kind of fall in the Center for Student Activities, Recreation and Leadership, and I would encourage them to see if there is a way, if they have a new idea, if it is similar to something that’s already existing on campus, to see if they can partner with another club on campus to make that a reality,” said Chulick. “We are a small campus and we have a ton of student organizations, which is great, but we’re competing against the same population of students for all those clubs.”
Chulick said CARL would like to see new clubs each year and if there is a way to have them “interwoven into something that’s already existing.”
Both Chulick and DeFazio recommended the SGA charter request form for those students interested in starting a new club on campus.
“They can also turn in a sample copy of what they think their constitution would be on,” Chulick said. “The student government membership committee looks at that information and they will evaluate it and then get back to those student leaders interested on their decision.”
CARL works with clubs to help them understand the policies and get their club started and functioning with an event-planning process, said Chulick.
“Our office supports student government in whatever decisions are made with new clubs and organizations, and then once they are official organizations we will work with them on all their day-to-day logistics,” Chulick said.
There were a few clubs who have already went through this process for this year.
“This year, we have at least three new clubs that we were able to charter,” Chulick said. “All those clubs were started last year and they were able to be granted status by student government to be given a budget this year.”
Chulick said they were excited about the new clubs on campus.
“I think the clubs that are getting started will be very beneficial to the university,” DeFazio said. “I think they’re clubs that a lot of students will have interest in, and I’m interested in watching them grow and develop year to year and carry on.”
Maggie Finley, is a junior strategic communication major on campus, and is the current president of the photography club, one of the three clubs recently approved by the SGA.
“[The photography club] was already a club last year, but last year we were a probational club, so we didn’t get any funding from SGA. We had to work up members and show them we were a good candidate to become a SGA-chartered club, meaning that you could get money and that people were interested in the club,” Finley said. “My job at the end of last year and the beginning of this year was to fill out paperwork to get chartered and go to the SGA meeting and present ourselves as a club.”
Becoming a club requires reaching an adequate number of students in order to be recognized as an official organization, which can present a challenge.
“We have an Instagram page, so that definitely helps a lot, getting the word out and things like that,” Finley said. “Last year we were at the club fair, that’s definitely a great way to find members.”
Finley said that word of mouth helped to bolster the club’s ranks as well.
“Photography is one of those things where there’s certain people that are very interested in it, and you kind of end up seeing each other and talking about it,” said Finley. “It gets out and about.”
Finley experienced a few struggles as president of a club during the transitional phase.
“I wouldn’t say it’s the most difficult thing in the world, but I have been sending a lot of emails lately, a lot of emails, just to different people getting the emails under control so that I can send out group emails under the SBU Photography name,” Finley said. “We aren’t on 25Live yet, so I can’t get a room to have a meeting. It’s the little things, but I wouldn’t say it’s that difficult [to start a new club].”
The photography club has already been active on campus, and Finley said that has helped the visibility of the club.
“Last year we helped photograph a lot of different events and that helps get the word out there,” said Finley.
Finley said to find out the latest things of the St. Bonaventure photography club, follow their Instagram at photo_bonnies.
For anyone interested in joining these new clubs, Chulick recommends either contacting himself or Rob DeFazio. Also, the Bonnies Connect app can show events clubs are hosting to get in direct contact with them.
“Our office is here to support students in whatever ideas they have. We definitely want to be as student-centered as possible,” Chulick said. “We definitely encourage [students with interest] to stop by our office.”
By Landon Allison, Staff Writer
allisolj17@bonaventure.edu
