Clubs Days happening this week

DSU changed club policies last year

By Jake Wray, News Editor

It’s the start of a new semester and DSU Clubs Days are happening once again.

Clubs Days are a showcase of all the student clubs at Douglas College. The clubs will have booths set up in common areas that students can peruse at their leisure. Clubs Day will be held at the Coquitlam campus atrium Tuesday, January 23 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., and at the New Westminster campus concourse Wednesday, January 24 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Aran Armutlu, director of finance for the DSU, said Clubs Day is one of the busiest days of the year at Douglas College.

“Clubs will have interactive things going on. People can come up to the tables and play games, or they can come and do things to interact with whatever the service or the interest is of that club,” he said in an interview with the Other Press during the fall semester.

The Other Press will have a booth at both Clubs Day events. Students are welcome to come by to learn more about their campus newspaper. While the Other Press is not officially a DSU club, we nevertheless encourage students to get involved with the paper—our door is always open to new student writers, editors, artists or anyone who wants to contribute.

Chandler Walter, editor-in-chief of the Other Press, said the paper needs more Douglas College students to get involved.

“We always encourage students to become part of the Other Press because it’s a great place to have your written work published and become a part of a great group of people,” he said. “Besides, press freedoms are increasingly under attack, and it’s time for young journalists to step up.”

Armutlu said this fall that the DSU updated its club policies in summer 2017, including an overhaul of club membership requirements. The old membership requirement for clubs was six members, but now clubs need to maintain 15 or 30 members depending on the type of club. Armutlu said the requirements were updated after the DSU received feedback from students during the club policy overhaul process.

Joining a club can significantly enrich a student’s experience at college, according to Armutlu, who said he hopes lots of students join clubs at Douglas College this year.

“I think that clubs are a great way for students to get that first-level engagement on campus, because you’re really just going in and finding that thing you share as an interest with someone, and that’s how all sort of connections are made,” he said. “Getting involved on campus has obviously countless numbers of benefits, and the more that people invest into their time at Douglas … it just makes their time here much more enjoyable.”