Clubs Gone By

As UP approaches budget season, tough decisions will be made to disperse roughly $200,000 among 50-odd clubs. Some clubs will be able to thrive from the influx while others will fade from the campus due to lack of funding or interest.

This week we will look at a few of the clubs that have graced the Bluff, but are no longer active for different reasons.

A Beacon profile: the dream of many clubs

Bowling Club ( Fall 2003-Spring 2007): Started by two freshman who bonded during a Micro Econ Icebreaker.   A small number of people met Wednesday or Thursday night at Interstate Lanes for a few intra-club games. As the semesters progressed, the relatively cheap club fluctuated in ASUP support from $810 for the 2007 Spring Semester to receiving only $360 for the 2006 Fall Spring Semester. 

Events: Inter-squad bowling, hence the name.

Budget Requests: Every semester, they simply asked for lane and shoe fees to cover around 20 people over the course of 8 weeks of the semester.

P.C.O.D. (Potential Cause of Death): Lack of interest.  Many clubs have trouble when their leadership graduates.  The already small  niche of bowling and the expensive nature might have lead to hard core fans of bowling to join.

Hope for Resurrection: Possible.  All it needs to thrive again are a committed few, a solid advisor and a good freshman group willing to establish a tradition that could last a few 4-year cycles.

Monogram Club (c.1903-1950): Dating back to the Columbia University days, the club began as the collection of players who had received the monogrammed jackets from their sport. Later, it evolved  into a potential prototypical Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) as members became more involved in campus life.



Events: Serving as ushers at basketball games, performing plays, hosting dances and holding the annual "smoker."   The smoker, not to be confused with Villa Maria's Smokeout, in which participants smoke cigars and pipes, was a yearly boxing tournament.  Fighters were paired up equally in terms of ability and fought until they reached the winner.



Monogram Club successfully executing more than sport plays

Budget Requests: Unsure due to lack of access to older budgets.

P.C.O.D. (Potential Cause of Death): Lack of football.  Without the largest source of monogrammed sweater recipients, due to the lack of football funding, the club, run by one of the coaches, slowly faded or became the early SAAC chapter.

Hope for Resurrection: Not sure. Since football has been off campus for 60 years, despite the urging of students, the sports teams have trended away from varsity letters and sweaters. The SAAC has been trying to raise its profile among the student body through their talent show (this year's is on April 17th, Clive and Clarena Charles Day, in BC Auditorium.)



Fighting Words?



The smoker is another story. For a proper revival, leaders might need an underground setup, American Gladiators-style Jousting or a Wii Boxing twist to modernize the event. Perhaps the University and society has moved beyond people testing their own fighting abilities against their comrades.



These are just two of the clubs that people enjoyed.  As the Bowling Club showed, any person or group of people who are passionate about an activity can start a club.  Other clubs evolve to fit the needs of the participants, like the Monogram Club.  The latter is speculation due to lack of available information in the University Archives. 

Thanks to Fr. Bob Antonelli, head of the Archives, for the access and permission to photograph.  The Archives reside in the basement of Shipstad and Fr. Bob is always willing to help you find what you might hope to learn about the Bluff's history.  Don't forget to grab some candy while you visit!

Midterm Review: A Visit from the Archbishop; Identity Questioning and CAKE!!

 Thursday Night featured the awarding of the Catholic Campus Ministry Association's Excellence in Facilitating Personal Development award and The Northwest Association of Student Activites Professionals Award for Innovative Programming to the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, a men's spirituality group. Again, I had my camera ready, resulting in some great and not so great photos and videos. Sorry for their lack of light/quality.

Archbishop Vlazny posing with the original group and Josh Noem .

 Starting in freshman year, groups of 6-8 freshmen gather with two faculty/staff advisors to discuss topics "deeper than girls, sports and cars," as co-founder Josh Noem puts their mission. Every meeting, a member shares their story through the lens of the year's guiding questions.

 Freshmen tackle the questions "who am I?" and "what do I believe?;" sophomores focus in their relationships and how they affect themselves and others; juniors discuss resiliency and how to persevere; and seniors review what has happened over their time on campus and discuss where they are headed.

The reason many are here, other than the Archbishop and cake

  I'd like to take part of this post to discuss my answers to those questions thus far and show you how the Archbishop answered the freshman questions.

I am the younger of two, a neurotic, somewhat intelligent, sardonic, passionate, often cynical but occasionally optimistic, California male who often enjoys being wrong because the situation has become more educational and puts the efforts of others ahead of my own so often I have trouble understanding my own interests, dreams or beliefs.

The second and surprise award

I do believe in truth, information, complex sentences, the importance of keeping a close eye on government bodies (that one's for you, Dr. Lovejoy,) and the idea simple things can be crucial to happiness, especially at unexpected moments.

My relationships are diverse but often shallow because I share more of myself through actions than words, which somehow leaves me feeling like the other person does not know who I am other than an aide or possible hindrance within the interaction.

 Whenever I try to interact deeply with others, I often either cannot coordinate the time or cannot facilitate conversation for a sufficient amount of time to be viewed as interesting or sociable to a normal extent. If a time presents itself, I will tend to keep you occupied for longer than you intended.

 My resiliency right now comes from the British method of soldiering on through the day and tasks. Like Jesus, I also need time to withdraw and understand the previous events.

 From the relatively nomadic style I pursue, I have no proper clue where my life is headed. I could be anything from a lawyer, accountant, priest, HR Rep, radio board operator, or transient.

 Here's the Archbishop telling his story, it is a long one:

Stay tuned this week for the student and advisor responses, partly so I can take my time rotating the video, the hardest part of the whole process and the main reason for the time of this posting

I teased it in the title and you were so patient, so here's the cake!

The final award of the night: would you believe there were leftovers?

The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen will be having their Manquisition in the coming weeks, so stay tuned, readers and event fans!

For those of you who managed to stick around: who are you and what do you believe?

The Start of a Mission

Disclaimer: this blog is the investigation of a question that has been bugging me for my three years on campus: how involved are people on campus?

Freshmen are encouraged to get involved in clubs for the first few weeks, culminating in the Activities Fair.  

 Few people try to follow up with older students, let alone freshmen after those weeks. 

Parents ask what their kids are doing or could be doing on campus; even high school seniors might see what they could do during their college experience.

Also, few clubs are also known by the ASUP Senators as they use precious time during the semester budget meetings asking club representatives about their events or role on campus.

This blog hopes to shed light on the lesser-seen clubs and activities, providing them some much needed attention, removing preconceptions and ignorance about clubs and activities, and make strides to answer that ultimate question.   

Maybe I will find out there are just a few that are involved in anything and most of the campus is made up of the “silent majority” that are only here for their degree and hanging out for their friends.

How will I work to answer these questions?

Club profiles: club synopsis, interview of leadership, stories about their meeting/ event attended

"How an Idea Becomes a Club": I will follow the efforts of at least one potential club as it tries to become an official club

"Inside the Student Activities Office": interviews with student workers and the employees of the Office of Student Activities including Jillian Smith, the Assistant Director for Student Clubs, and Jeromy Koffler, the director of Student Activities and ASUP Senate Adviser.

Club of the Week: profile of a club, not necessarily one I have already attended or already profiled

I am a Member of the "Silent Majority": interview with someone who is involved with only a few clubs and is more concerned about their degree or their friends than what happens in other clubs

"Not My Club": a rip-off of NPR's "Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me''s popular segment, "Not My Job", asking questions about a club or event on campus to someone not affiliated with the club to see how much they know campus activities

"Clubs Gone by": a featured club that used to exist on campus. Possibly including ways it could return or how it served its purpose  

"The Search for the Most Active Student": a continuing series to find who is either the most organized or the most tired student, depending on their perspective

Weekend Recaps of club events

Listings of as many events occurring each week I can find to show the options and potential conflicts

These are most of the ways., as the weeks go by, some segment will change or be dropped.  I am also open for guest suggestions and even a guest columnist or two.

I also have a radio show Fridays from 4-5pm called UP to Something on kdup.up.edu, the campus radio station, where I will discuss some of these topics and produce interviews that might make appearances here.  I warn you, I do not have the best voice for radio, but I try my best.

I also serve as KDUP's liaison with the student government, so reports for meetings will make occasional appearances.  

Even though I will try to be as unbiased as possible, there are times where I will have an obvious slant on an issue. I will try to remind you, the reader when I write in that way, but let me know if I go astray.

Do not hesitate to provide your opinions on things through the comments.  I hope you enjoy my efforts and once a routine is established, this site can perform some good in the university community.