STORY AND PHOTO BY HANNAH KAMPITAN, STAFF WRITER
The start of a new year brings a fresh pool of council members to the Cypress College Inter-Club Council, and their new methods for fostering student awareness of campus clubs set the stage for a stronger student club life on campus.
New students have yet to discover this year’s diverse range of clubs that target multiple categories, including–but not limited to–culture, special interest, academics, language, and more.
Cypress College has a club for fencing, fashion, mental health–you name it. This year’s new methods for progression, include the new “club pop-ups,” club calendar idea, and club-of-the-year requirements step up the game for a more productive, interested perception of community college clubs.
The Inter-Club Council (ICC) is a subdivision of Associated Students chaired by the Vice President of Student Organizations. All chartered clubs at Cypress send one representative to attend the weekly Tuesday afternoon meetings, where they report their club agendas and interactively plan detailed events to serve the student body.
Jordy Galan, a third-year student majoring in Theatre, serves as the Vice President of Student Organizations ICC Chair for the second time. His eagerness to give clubs vital opportunities to improve club membership and awareness is reflected in how he has led in the Spring 2024 semester.
“I want to make sure that all clubs at Cypress–even the small ones–are being supported and looked out for,” Galan says, “Last year we had 25 clubs, but some would miss out on the information we had and didn’t participate in our events. This year, we are expecting over 35 clubs at our first Club Rush event!”
The council discussed new approaches to fixing these problems at their first ICC meeting of the school year on Sept. 3rd. Galan introduced the council’s Google Calendar, which is being updated weekly for meeting time references and independent club dates to look out for.
He also introduced club-pop ups, where clubs will have 30-minute shifts to pitch their club to students at three locations: the gateway plaza, in front of the library, and in between the Humanities and Business building.
As an incentive, the council implemented the Club-of-the-Year award once again but new rules have been established. The club with the most meetings and club activities, through photographic proof and records, will receive a trophy at the banquet.
Fernando Lizarraga, a third-year majoring in studio art and Japanese, is an active ICC member who is president of the Japanese Cultural Club.
“For me, not only have ICC meetings become a good place for clubs to plan, but it’s a gateway to club collaboration with other clubs,” Lizarraga says, “people might meet their future business partners and have new friends; without ICC, student life at Cypress wouldn’t be as great.”
There’s a lot of planning and strategizing going on behind the scenes for this year’s clubs, and I can’t wait to see the ICC meetings bring them all into action.
