Are CCNY Clubs Diminishing as Students Tire of Zoom Events?
Words by Enoch Tusubira
Graphic by Aspasia Celia Tsampas
At the start of the fall semester, many students at The City College of New York have lost interest in co-curricular activity meetings, leaving them poorly attended or inactive. That leaves the immediate future of generally robust clubs at CCNY in flux.
Michelle Almanzar, a senior at CCNY used to be active in the LGBTQIA+ Open Alliance club on campus but remote learning convinced her to use her time differently and leave the club. “Even though I want a sense of community, with COVID and everything, Ifeel like there was less of that,” Almanzar said. “I felt like events were hard to organize and for people to attend them.”
Almanzar noticed that at the start of the semester, students were not responding to invitations that she and other club executives sent out. “In April or May when I tried to organize like a movie screening zoom movie night and I remember planning it and waiting for people to come,” Almanzar said. “I was there 30 minutes to an hour and nobody came.”
Joshua Thomas, a senior working with the Student Life and Leadership Development, which promotes and supports extracurricular and co-curricular programs at CCNY, said the overall morale has been affected. “It is difficult for many students to do things with clubs because they are mostly on zoom,” he said. “Now it takes more effort for clubs to outreach.”
An in-person student club meeting back in Spring 2020, before COVID-19 Restrictions
Student Life has tried to produce as much fun and enjoyment as possible online. “Now that most people are at home, it is easy for one to get bored so that has been one way that we have been effective,” Thomas said. “Popular clubs are really great because of their live events. Without having that many activities, clubs aren’t attractive.”
Many students still love public interaction. “Group chats have practically turned into clubs because students have to process most of the course material on their own,” Thomas said.
Student clubs provide more than just social interaction. “The Model United Nations club taught me rules, technicalities and procedures of debate,” said Harris Khan, a former Student Government President, an alumni of CCNY and a New York City Council employee. “These skills enabled me to rise through the ranks in leadership and they positioned me to apply to the Urban Fellows fellowship which helped me to land my job.”
