As students milled about a crowded quad during Club Fair on Oct. 3-5, club officers eagerly passed out food and held up posters, excited to attract new members for the school year.
Among the clubs were 17 new additions, including Humane Society Club, Photography Club, Poetry Club, Illustrated Art Club, Queer Student Union and Agriculture Club.
The Humane Society Club, created by sophomores Risa Carter, Francesca Whiting, Alex Lee, Kathryn Hamilton and Thaila Morganstern, allows students to help animals in need through activities and fundraisers. The club plans to work hand in hand with the Humane Society, a nonprofit animal welfare organization.
“I have a strong passion for animals and I also help out at the Humane Society all the time, so it just kind of hit me that I should start a Humane Society club at my school,” Carter said.
According to Carter, the club will be fairly laid back and there will only be a meeting every other week on Wednesday. The meetings will consist of activities that raise awareness about important topics like animal abuse.
Carter believes that animal protection rights are extremely important and the topic of abuse should be discussed, not avoided.
“It is critical that this is brought to people’s attention so they can make sure to treat their pets better and other animals and overall just be better human beings,” Carter said.
The club will sometimes volunteer at the local Humane Society on the weekends, where they will help out with the animals and do various other tasks like adoption counseling.
“I hope that people who go to our meetings walk out and feel motivated and inspired to help animals and feel like they made the world a better place,” Carter said.
The Photography Club officers are also excited for club meetings to begin and take place every other Monday. They had begun planning far in advance by creating their club interview presentation over the summer, said the club’s vice president, junior Kitty Huang.
Senior Aden Choy and junior Muthu Palaniappan are co-presidents, while junior Usman Khan serves as secretary and treasurer.
Photography Club existed before but ended two years ago as a result of its dwindling member population.
The officers plan on hosting workshops where members can share and critique each other’s photos as well as discuss techniques and styles.
“We encourage anyone who doesn’t have a camera to learn to take pictures on their phones,” Huang said. “But we will also teach basic tutorials of DSLR cameras and simple techniques of Photoshop to edit the pictures.”
In order for a wider audience to view members’ works, the club will feature student works on social media, such as Facebook and Instagram.
If members are interested in submitting works to competitions, they can receive help and advice, Choy said. The officers also plan on inviting photographers to present and share their work during meetings, and members can go on photography trips together. Students with all levels of experience are welcome.
“Photography is not limited to taking pictures on professional cameras,” Huang said. “Anyone can take good pictures if they have a good perspective and the right angle, even with phone cameras, so we think it’s a good idea to spread the knowledge of photography.”