A queen captures a piece.
Robots warm the hearts of onlookers.
Students share laughter and connect over common interests.
At the first day of Club Rush, hosted by the Inter-Club Council, tents for over 40 student organizations propped up under sunny skies at the Student Services Plaza on Tuesday, March 4.
But by the next day, the weather had shifted.
The cloudy, rainy weather persisted through Thursday, March 6, forcing the event indoors into the Collaboration Room in the Schauerman Library.
“I didn’t know about the location switch until about 11 p.m. I had to rush to make sure my members were able to get the message,” Artemis Santos, a psychology major and member of the Gender Sexuality Alliance club, said.
Each club buzzed with energy as they set up their tables in the library, eager to introduce their organizations’ missions to the campus community.
Despite the venue change, El Camino College Barkada, a club which builds community among Filipino students, showed up to spread candy, flyers, and music with the visitors to their table.
The club hosts events that consist of potlucks, karaoke, Christmas parties, and fundraising events.
“[Barkada addresses the] importance of sharing the struggles of being Filipino back home and abroad,” studio arts major Kristina Tiongco, 23, said. “We give a community of Filipinos a safe space.”
The Architecture Club has been active on campus for two years, where they talk about architecture and focus on skills in design.
Although some students mentioned difficulties hearing others in the Collaboration Room, others were having a blast.
The Chess Club made an appearance at Club Rush and played against anyone who had the courage to make a move.
The Chess Club hosts games that are open to both players and observers and meets every Tuesday from 1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m.
But one thing stood out to students across the room—a remote-controlled Wall-E model.
For the Robotics Club, it has become a near-tradition for Wall-E to make an appearance. The club host competitions where members create a robot to race.
The Robotics Club meets up Mondays and Wednesdays from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., and Fridays from noon to 3 p.m. in Room 22 in the ITEC building’s basement.
“We control him by the remote but he can be pre-programed to move on his own,” Rodriguez said. (Erica Lee |The Union)
The Veterans Club also had a huge draw to their table, which handed out free candy and Sol de Janeiro body wash samples.
“The one misconception that people have for our club is that you have to be a veteran, and that is not the case,” Reggie Parducho, vice president of the Veterans Club, said. “Anybody and everybody can participate and learn about the veteran community and learn about the military.”
There was another organization that connected with students–the Alpha Gamma Sigma honors society program.
Anthropology major Camile Martinez, 20, and business major Mahdi Syed, 19, run Alpha Gamma Sigma.
The program is meant to prepare highly motivated students for university transfer, and provides various benefits to participants.
“You get an honors notation on your transcript, and you also get a gold stole,” Syed said.
Students also have the perk of sitting in the front rows during graduation.
Another source of energy in the room was El Camino Body Building, a new student club.
Enoch Joo, 18, a fire science major, said that bodybuilding is a great community and a safe space, but warned that TikTok has a decent amount of toxic bodybuilding subcultures.
“We spread functional fitness and physical activity, which promotes happiness,” Joo said.
But that’s not all.
Several clubs were based on specific media interests, including horror.
Being all about horror, the club talks about new and old media in the horror industry, deconstructs what horror is, examines underlying political themes and provides a safe space for LGBTQ youth.
The club meets biweekly Thursdays at 3 p.m. in the Social Justice Center. The first meeting is on March 20.
Like most of the other campus organizations, the Tabletop Gaming Club attended all three days of Club Rush.
“We play games on tables,” Diego Trujillo, 20, a history major, said. “Our club is noncommittal, and we are always looking for board game suggestions.”
The club meets Tuesdays and Thursdays from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. in Humanities Building Room 106, and Fridays for Dungeons & Dragons from noon to 5 p.m. in the library’s Collaboration Room.
“[Our mission is] to cultivate a welcoming community for like-minded people and nerds,” Stevie Silva, 22, a film major, said.
To connect with these and other student clubs, visit Engage, the platform for student organizations at ECC.
The Union editors Camila Jimenez and Nikki Yunker; staff writers Drex Carratala, Nick Miller, Seph Peters and Jamila Zaki; and interns Bridget Colbert, Keandra Lee, Oriana de Quay and Nicolas Tomsio contributed to this story.
