Graphic by Maya Uribe
By Miggy Aguilar and Melisa Rodriguez
On Aug. 29 the Student Organizations & Involvement (SOI) Leadership and Involvement Center had its grand opening located on the second floor of the Student Union Building which proved to be an exciting new addition to the CI campus community. The Leadership and Involvement Center offers CI students a dynamic new space dedicated to fostering leadership, engagement and involvement.
Resources offered at the Leadership and Involvement Center include opportunities for students to connect with and join academic, cultural, faith-based, national honor society, political, sorority and fraternity, service and social justice, special interest and sports clubs-based student organizations. This also includes the opportunity for students to start new student organizations.
Coordinator of Student Organizations & Involvement, Russell Winans, outlined the process required to start a student organization for students hoping to create communities with similar goals and interests. “You have to have five enrolled students, so five students that are enrolled, three of those students are assigned as officers. You can have more than five students, of course, and you can have more than three officers, but those are the minimum requirements to get started,” Winans explained. The Student Organizations & Involvement website also addresses the need for a voluntary faculty advisor when creating any student organization, the need for an eligible safety officer when creating a sports club and a $45 insurance fee as part of the yearly registration process. “Each club needs to have a faculty or staff advisor that hopefully is someone that’s passionate or has an expertise about the particular club. The history club is probably a history faculty member, right, as an example. Or an e-sports club, probably someone that’s interested in gaming, something like that. It doesn’t have to be, though,” Winans said, expanding upon the role of faculty advisors.
When speaking on the topic of continuing the legacy of student organizations as officers and members graduate from year to year, Winans cited the importance of mentorship between students. “And then as far as handing the baton and the torch, I mean, I think a question I always ask new student officers is what do you wish you knew when you started? What was hard for you? What was confusing? And then we’ve put together kind of like a guidebook. It’s not a handbook, but like a guide or a checklist of things that if you’re a new officer, these are some questions to ask the prior leadership.”
Winans continued by expressing his hopes for student organizations at CI. “Our mission at the university is placing students at the center of their experience. So we really want to react to what the student orgs want to do.” Winans emphasized, “what I’d love to see is more volunteering and more service in the community.”
When asked what his one hope for the student body would be this academic year Winans answered earnestly. “I would say just to hone in on building community and kind of creating those opportunities for students to connect with one another. I think that clubs and orgs is one way, it’s not the only way, but it’s one way that students can really create that sense of belonging and that community. Connections. So kind of in the spirit of who could you reach out to? Who could you collaborate with? Are there other clubs that are similar? Maybe they’re different and that’s a good reason to collaborate. So kind of maybe get outside of just your bubble and find some other groups and departments, programs to work with,” Winans explained with passion.
Valeria Franco, a fourth year performing arts major, had clubs and organizations at CI to thank for positive experiences throughout her college career. “I think it helped me to develop my communication skills and my social skills and as well as getting hands-on, especially in the arts, hands-on is very important for us. And so having those clubs and orgs that help you develop that, it makes it I think easier once in the workplace, you have that kind of experience later. So I really like that experience that I get from those clubs,” Franco said with regards to the Media Arts Club at CI.
Kayla De Leon, a second year art major, spoke to the ease of connecting with other students who have common interests through clubs and organizations. “Sometimes it can take a lot of effort to just kind of get around. So when you already know where the hotspot is, when it comes to finding all of these different diverse groups of people, it’s just easier when it’s in one place,” De Leon noted.
For those visiting the Leadership and Involvement Center, the space offers more than just opportunities to connect with student clubs and organizations at CI. As advertised in their marketing, the Leadership and Involvement Center also serves as a meeting place for students that offers many resources such as a microwave, a refrigerator, free coffee and tea, computers, meeting spaces, event spaces and comfortable lounges. If our experience was any indicator, students should see what the Leadership and Involvement Center has in store for them this semester.
