Clubs prepare for exciting new year

by Sarah Silbert '10

Thursday November 29, 2007

SLC campus organizations, both old and new, have begun to set their plans and activities into motion. Here is a look at what a few of SLC’s clubs have to offer this year:

STAND (Students Taking Action Now: Darfur) chair Tracy Rosenberg hopes her club’s events will mobilize students and raise money for Darfur. A campus craft fair and prayer vigil, dubbed “SLC Days for Darfur”, will take place from November 12 to November 14. Filmmaker Mark Brecke will also speak to the campus community. Early December will feature a “Darfur Fast.”

“We hope all students will donate the cost of one meal to a Darfur-related charity [during the Fast],” Rosenberg said. All students are invited to attend STAND’S weekly meetings on Mondays at 7 p.m. in Perkins.

Beyond Compliance, dedicated to the rights of the disabled, aims to publish a student-run zine. Kristen Schuster, who runs the group with fellow senior Clare Hipschman, hopes that more students will get involved. “You don’t have to be a disabled student to be concerned. This is something everyone should be educated about,” she said.

Schuster also chairs SLC Acts Up! with Matt Vail and Jacki Lacey, a Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender awareness group. They are currently planning activities for October, which is Gay Pride Month. Meetings are held on Thursday evenings in Slonim House.

SLC Acts Up! is only one of many clubs that focuses on gender issues.

TRANSaction works to provide a transgender- friendly environment for students. In the past, the group successfully petitioned for gender-neutral bathrooms on campus. This year, they plan to establish a new name-changing procedure for the school. Tobi, one of the club’s chairs, explains that, “Some students don’t identify with the name on their ID cards or campus e-mail addresses, and the only option for them has been to get a legal name change. We want to make this easier.”

The Sarah Lawrence Gospel Choir is a laid-back, weekly gathering for students who like to sing. Sophomores Christine Spinelli and Sarah Livant hope to hold events each Thursday evening at 5:30 p.m. Under the direction of SLC alum Nehemiah Luckett (responsible for the music in the campus production Brick by Brick), SLGC is audition-free and, said Livant, “about having fun.”
Empty Bellies delivers cafeteria leftovers to a food shelter in the Bronx on a daily basis. Co-chairs Cody Trojan and Vrinda Manglik gather student drivers to both collect and transport the food.

“Students can drop any unwanted food in Dudley Lawrence kitchen. We encourage students to get involved and help drive the food to the Bronx,” Trojan said.

Jake Schneider hopes the Hill House Dinner Collective will provide students with good food and a sense of community. “The idea is based off a similar model at Carnegie Mellon, as well as suburban co-ops,” he explained. The collective plans to organize nightly meals to be cooked and enjoyed by Hill House residents. Schneider says the Collective has plans to work with the campus club Progressive Produce.

SPAAR (Students Promoting Awareness of Animals Rights) co-chairs Jasmine Rivera and Ali Berman hope to promote animal activism and educate students about the food they eat, holding vegan barbeques and “jams” complete with vegetarian comedians and music. Members will work with the Sheltered Pet Alliance in Westchester to facilitate animal adoption. The co-chairs also plan to petition against a Bronxville eatery that serves fois gras. The group has scheduled speakers from both PETA and the Humane Society for October and November.

Dylan Morgan is the chair of PETA (People Eating Tasty Animals), a club that caters to campus meat-eaters who find the dining hall fare less than appetizing. Once a month, PETA plans to hold themed barbeques. Students can enjoy delicious meat on the lawn in between jousting matches, as PETA hopes to coordinate events with the campus dueling club. “We’re not here to piss people off,” Morgan said. “We’re just another place to eat on campus. The meat [in the dining halls] is pretty horrible.”