On Aug 24, crowds of freshmen and returning students attended this fall’s City of Orgs event. From 11am to 2pm, visitors and passerby met with representatives from various student run organizations, groups and clubs on campus.
Visitors were incentivized by the Center of Student Involvement to collect stamps from the tables they visited. Once they had collected at least 10 stamps, they received a meal voucher ticket for a taco truck.
Meet some of the clubs that tabled during the event.
An eclectic number of student orgs as well as fraternities and sororities showed up at the event, showcasing their clubs to prospective new members. One such club was the Philosophy club, a gathering of students who wanted to discuss and explore philosophical questions.
Edie Markovich, Club President of the Philosophy club, said that their club explores a diverse number of topics ranging from science of Philosophy, feminist philosophy, ethics, metaphysics, aesthetics, art and beauty, etc.
“If you’ve ever had an existential crisis, we talked about that.” Markovich said. “We just want people to get involved, and take us seriously, and talk about cool stuff because it can really open the mind to what is possible.”
For students who are interested in getting into the animation field, the Gravitas Animation group plans to host tech workshops on campus throughout the semester. They’ll also host a stop motion workshop as well as a Chamberlain Harmony workshop sometime during the semester.
Sebastian R.Lopez, an animation major, greeted visitors to the Gravitas booth and explained the group’s mission.
“We really try to help become the transitional period for our students,” said Lopez.
Their goals are to nurture and develop the skills of animation students, with a focus on reinforcing professionalism, working on things such as resumes and talking to recruiters. They hope to provide their members with a sense of development and progression in their own animation skills.
The club will meet in the art building every Monday from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m.
“We have a warm and inviting community online in and in person through our Discord,” Lopez said. “I would also say we have a lot of collaboration.”
Gravitas’s meetings and workshops will culminate at the end of the semester with their Spring Showcase. The Spring Showcase will highlight student films throughout the year, as well as a collective animation project that will kick off the showcase itself. More information can be found on the club’s Instagram: @calstatelagravitas.
Students who came to the City of Orgs event looking for a social group that enjoys gaming didn’t have to look far. The CSULA Gaming club aka the Golden Eagle Gaming club, held a table there to attract anyone who loves all forms of gaming, whether it be Esports, board games, video games, and even mobile games.
“I’d say we’re relatively new, but we’re up and coming, so it’s like we’re constantly evolving,” said Melissa Vega, a member of the Golden Eagle Gaming Club.
The Golden Eagle Gaming club strives to create a positive community that’s based on fun and bringing gamers together. The club holds their meetings online through their discord, which is also where you can find their announcements on any events that will be held on campus. These events will be related to a variety of gaming events, such as Esports competitions, gaming nights, board game nights, giveaways, etc. More information about the club can be found on the club’s Discord server.
The club’s goals for this semester are to further foster and connect a community of people who love any form of gaming together. People should expect the Golden Eagle Gaming club to offer a stress-free environment that will always be there for them and provide that fun for them.
“Our mission for this semester is to bring events to bring people together and to bring these games to the people. There’s a lot of people who don’t game, and we want to be able to bring that here,” Vega said.
For those people who just want to visit a galaxy far, far away, the Star Wars Club was another club tabling at City of Orgs.
Brandon Ramos, the secretary of the Star Wars club, said that the social club is open to anyone and anybody looking to get into Star Wars, whether you’re an old or new fan. Despite his relatively little knowledge of Star Wars, as a new fan of the sci-fi fantasy franchise, he’s eager to just find others who are just as passionate about Star Wars as he is.
“It’s a place to make friends, talk about Star Wars and just enjoy all the good stuff like just with people,” Ramos said.
In the past the club held several events, or “establishing themes” that explored different aspects of the Star Wars universe. Ramos recounts that last semester, they held a Lego Star Wars night, where they brought in and built their own Lego sets. They also have held watch parties for the movies and tv shows, and played video games related to the ever-growing franchise.
It was an unofficial club last semester, but this semester the Star Wars club plans to be a much more active club. They have yet to find a suitable place to meet up every other week, but they are meeting up on Wednesdays bi-weekly at 4:30pm on their Discord. More information can be found on the club’s Instagram @csulajedicouncil).
Other than their shared love for Star Wars, the Star Wars club represented something more for Ramos. To him, the club is an environment where people could be comfortable and just have fun with one another as a student community within Cal State LA.
“We’re kind of here just to like to talk about and get people into the series,” he said. “And just like making friends and you know; it’s college and some people have an issue or have a hard time making friends and we’re here to kind of alleviate that.”
