Andrew Wilson

New SDSU clubs will be available soon. As of now the Iron Jacks Wrestling Club is open to any SDSU student interested in competing on a more casual basis.

“Iron Jacks wrestling gives students the opportunity to participate in wrestling without the time commitment,” says president of the club Jason Stripling, a civil engineering senior.

Other upcoming clubs that will have full recognition early in December are Racquetball Club, African Student’s Association, and the Sierra Club.

The Racquetball Club’s main focus is competition in the inner collegiate competitions. African Student’s Association Club is based on students who are originally from Africa, focusing on the cultural aspects reflecting on how Africa’s society functions. This club welcomes all SDSU students that are interested. The Sierra Club is part of a National organization, which is made for the sole purpose of conserving the environment we live in. This club will be working on raising awareness of the ramifications of pollution and how to form a healthier environment to live in.

Interested in forming a club? To form a new organization may be a lot easier than most realize. There are over 200 organizations on the SDSU campus right now, but if the university does not have a particular club that you would like to belong to, try forming one.

“We have a process in place that gives students the opportunity to form groups which will in turn keep interests alive. This is the type of environment we should provide for our students,” says Vice President for Student Affairs Marysz Rames.

The first step in forming an organization is to complete the application of recognition. This process requires you to have seven charter members who are currently enrolled at SDSU.

The proposed constitution must be formed. The Office of Student Activities Staff is available to help with this process. Staff members will help answer any questions about forming the constitution and can verify that all forms have been completed.

Upon the completion of these steps, the Director of the Union will grant provisional recognition status to the organization for thirty days.

The office of Student Activities forwards the completed recognition packet materials to two SDSU committees, the Student Affairs Organization Subcommittee and the Students’ Association. These two committees have three weeks to give their recommendation and comments about the proposed organization.

After the Director of the Union receives comments and recommendations from the two committees, the director will grant full recognition, deny or continue provision recognition if need be.

Requirements for an organization to have full recognition are maintenance of an active membership of at least seven enrolled SDSU students, retention of one full time staff member to serve as an advisor, upholding the South Dakota Board of Regents polices and completion of an officer update form every year.

Some of the benefits of creating an organization through this process other then having the SDSU name is the right to organize a weekly meeting on campus and the entitlement to funds that SDSU offers to all recognized organizations.

“If you can’t find a student organization, form one. People may share the same interests you have,” said SA (Students’ Association) President Alex Brown, a senior who is majoring in political science with minors in journalism, global studies, and business. “The reason for these organizations is to bring people together, tying them in by common interests,” said Brown. Brown has been on the senate for three years and he finds that many constituents are active but others are more specialized. This all depends on which interests are popular for the time period.