Photo Credit: Jordan Heywood
Lauren Foster ‘15, Staff Writer
This semester the Office of Student Involvement has expanded their variety of student organizations as a way to reach out and get even more students involved on campus.
Adding new student organizations is nothing new to OSI. “It is always important,” emphasizes Allie Pukala, the Director of OSI. “We always want to be meeting students needs and make sure we’re staying current and up with the trends and that means having as many opportunities as possible.”
Athletes In Action, The Criminology Club, and The Gaming Club are the newest additions to campus and have already made an impact.
Athletes In Action, also known as Cru, is lead by President, Jordan Heywood. “The purpose is just to give students an opportunity to grow in their relationship with God and hang out with students who want to do the same,” says Heywood.
“Whether you’re an athlete or not, it’s open to anyone. We also facilitate bible studies that meet on a weekly basis.”
AIA/Cru meets Tuesday and Thursday night at 9:00pm in the Third Floor Lounge in the Campus Center.
“I Agree With Jordan” is their next event on Tuesday, February 12, at 7pm in The Den.
“We are a Christian-organization. That is what we are teaching, but anyone is welcome,” says Heywood.
According to Pukala, SGA has set some perimeters for them to make sure they are an all-inclusive group. “Blending athletics with faith is important, on a campus such as Merrimack. As long as that group is open to everyone, I’m excited to see them grow.”
The Criminology Club is another addition. When asked about the motive for starting the organization, President Mike Taddei said, “Just to help all the Criminology majors either get an internship or look for jobs and get them excited about the field with the fun stuff to do.”
The organization usually meets once a month, although a time has not been set for this semester. According to Taddei, it is open to anyone, not only Criminology minors or majors. “We’re here to help and get people excited about the field. Everyone’s welcomed.”
Pukala has noticed the immediate success of the organization, who already has 40 members. “When the Criminology department started to grow, they combined with The Student Association of Sociology and have since grown and now have their own intentions. I’m happy that they did so well they are willing to branch off.”
The Gaming Club has also begun this semester. “We’re a place where people gather together and play games and talk about games including the sub-text,” Hunter Ribsom Gardiner, President of the organization stated. “We do all types of games. We split into smaller groups because we can’t have 10 people playing one game.”
The Gaming Club meets Fridays from 3:00-6:00pm in Mendel room 210 and has around 30 members.
Expect more student organizations to be added in the near future, according to Pukala. “Our goal is to continuously reach students needs and make sure that we provide opportunities for our diverse students population. As our college continues to grow I hope we see an increase in student organizations starting.”
For those looking to start a new organization, you can start by getting in touch with OSI or John Ferraro, the SGA Vice President. From there, Ferraro will help you with getting perspective members, drafting a constitution, and preparing a presentation to SGA.
So how hard is it to start a new student organization? According to Ferraro, “It’s a lot easier than you think.”
