BETHANY CLANCY
Staff Writer
At the beginning of each semester comes the familiar: syllabus week, Welcome Week activities to get everyone into the swing of things and then it all leads to Activities Night the following week.
This upcoming Wednesday, over 190 clubs and organizations will be meeting in Steele Hall giving all students an opportunity to check out what Fredonia has to offer.
Sponsored by Spectrum Entertainment Board and Student Association, the clubs range from academic, music, athletic and social groups. Clubs include the Animation and Illustration Club, Fredonia Feminists, Pride Alliance, Video Game Development, Fredonia LARP (live action role-playing) Fellowship and more.
This chapter of Pride Alliance is run by Parker Leounis, a senior gender studies major with a minor in psychology. He explained that Pride Alliance is a queer group on campus that is meant to be a safe space for the queer community.
“We have weekly meetings Tuesday[s] at 9 p.m. where we talk about different queer issues such as the differences and similarities between sex and gender, ACT UP, the stonewall riots and sometimes we take suggestions from our general body members,” Leounis said.
Although this is a club based on the LGBTQ+ community, you don’t need to be queer to join. In fact, they encourage allies to join.
At Activities Night, they will be accepting sign-ups for their “Happy New Queer” event, their annual potluck, that will be held this upcoming Friday.
“We will also have a sign up for our drag show for people who want to perform. The spring semester is not a competition, so anyone is welcome to perform,” he added.
The Fredonia LARP Fellowship is another club that has gained a lot of popularity over the past few semesters. They have about 15-20 members including non-students.
“[Being a part of this club] provides you with access to games such as Amtgard, which involves role-playing, physical activity and creative arts,” said Chris Ayers, a social work major and the president of LARP.
“LARPing is a really great way to get involved in new social groups and experience what it’s like to be whoever you want for a bit,” added Ayers. “Some take being in character more seriously than others, some just come to have fun hitting their friends with sticks,
but I think that most games have something for just about everyone to enjoy.”
Kermit Mitchell, a sophomore computer science and applied mathematics major, started his own club last semester: the Video Game Development Club, or VGD.
Last semester, they focused on educational workshops emphasizing learning the disciplines involved in game development. These included game design, programming, art and animation, music, sound effects, voice acting, narrative and story development, business, finance, marketing and game production — just to name a few.
“This semester, we will be focused on game development and will be working on video games as a team. Prospective club members don’t already have to know programming, art, etc., and we will teach them along the way,” Mitchell said. “This is a very hands-on and interactive club. At Activities Night, we will be demoing and play-testing a game at our booth.”
Katie Connell, a junior visual arts and new media major, just started her journey here at Fredonia after spending two years at Niagara County Community College. She said that the school does a great job at promoting Activities Night and talking about how many clubs Fredonia has.
“I was actually interested in the Artist Alliance. We had something similar at NCCC called the artist guild,” Connell said.
Activities Night is a great way for new and old students to get connected with others and to get involved on campus.