The Student Organization Council hosted its third annual Block Party on the fifth floor of the Student Center on Wednesday, Feb. 12, bringing students together to connect with campus organizations. The event space was filled with tables, displays and interactive setups designed to draw students in.
Campus organizations lined the space, offering giveaways, sweets from the South Loop’s Molly’s Cupcakes and Sweet Bean Cafe and Bakery and information to spark interest among potential new members.
Senior and marketing major Emma Hitch said it’s important for students to feel welcome.
“I was a transfer student coming here, and I always struggle to find my place,” said Hitch, president of the Columbia College Fashion Association and community director for the SOC. “Our main goal is always to help people at Columbia, find their sense of community and their sense of belonging.”
Senior creative writing major and SOC president Paige Johnson said that one of her goals given all the changes happening at Columbia was to create more outreach for the 68 organizations on campus.
“One of the biggest changes was, we combined clubs and athletics, so SOC oversees everyone now, so my biggest goal was to make the athletics thrive and feel just as included as they were when they were separate.”
Several of the Renegades sports teams were represented at Block Party including: soccer, Mi Gente Latin Dance and the Outdoor Collective, which is the cycling club.
Sophomore and arts history major Sophia Brown said a big part of the collective’s philosophy is “to get outside.”
“I really hope that people take their mental health seriously and consider going on a walk,” said Brown. “I hope that it inspires them to go outside, breathe in the fresh air.”
Some newly established Renegades teams such as Black Wolves Basketball made their debut at block party for the first time this year. Robert Jones, a sophomore majoring in film and television, who is involved with the newly established team, said despite being in its first year, the team is now officially recognized and has access to a gym.
“I’m looking forward to getting us registered and being able to compete against other teams in the league,” he said.
“When I came here, I’m like, there’s no basketball team, barely a club. So for me to start it, I feel like I want us to be able to set the groundwork for making a basketball team official here, and getting the gyms and being recognized as a real team.”
The American Marketing Association, another newly established group on campus, also made their debut at Block Party. Led by senior and digital media marketing major Elyssa Gavenda, she said the group was reestablished last September to build a path for students that identified more with the marketing major.
“Being part of a national organization and having our chapter be a small part of that, there are rules that we have to follow with the national organization that did not 100% correlate with our values here at Columbia,” said Gavenda. “We had to navigate how to have all students be able to join us without having to pay, without being forced to pay the initiation fee that some other schools forced their students to do.”
Before the event concluded, SOC president announced that “Night Circus” would be the theme for Blood Ball this year. Johnson, who is also an SGA fourth- and fifth-year student senator, said that student life is extremely important in finding a place on campus.
“The student life, and even like the SGA, the student programming, board clubs, the athletics that is, and [the SOC] is dedicated to that idea of a place that’s not home, that’s not work, that’s not school, that is your third place.”
Copy edited by Trinity Balboa
Resumen en Español:
El Consejo de Organizaciones Estudiantiles de Columbia celebró su tercera Block Party el miércoles, 12 de febrero, conectando a los estudiantes con grupos del campus a través de exhibiciones interactivas, regalos y la presentación de nuevos clubes. La presidenta del SOC, Paige Johnson, destacó la expansión del alcance estudiantil, especialmente tras la fusión de clubes y atletismo.
Nuevos equipos como Black Wolves Basketball y la restablecida American Marketing Association hicieron su debut, mientras que grupos como Outdoor Collective promovieron el bienestar estudiantil. El evento concluyó con el anuncio del tema del Blood Ball de este año, “Night Circus”, reafirmando el compromiso del SOC con la comunidad estudiantil.
Resumen en Español por Manuel Nocera
Texto editado por Doreen Abril Albuerne Rodriguez
