For Northwestern student Naomi Gizaw, the summer before her second year was marked by the daily cacophony of skateboard wheels skidding across pavement, laughter, and encouraging cheers from her friends. As she grew to love both the sport itself and the tight community that arose from skateboarding alongside her friends, Gizaw hoped to find a space that resembled this at Northwestern. In response to the absence of any skateboarding organizations on campus, she decided to create this space herself.
“I wanted to continue skating on campus, but there were no clubs. I thought I could get a little group together because there’s already such a good skating community at Northwestern, and it’d be fun to have a club for that.”
And with skateboarders and longboarders constantly scattered along Sheridan road, the potential for a popular skating club was evident. Gizaw enlisted the help of a few of her friends and began the recruitment process.
“It seemed like there were a lot of people interested in a skating club, so my friends and I sent out a Google Form, put it in all of our Instagram bios, posted it on our Instagram stories, and texted it in the Northwestern 2024 class group chat. It spread through word of mouth after that.”
Word spread quickly. Gizaw amassed a total of 58 interested members in just a couple of weeks. As new members continue to trickle in, Gizaw is hoping her club will soon be formally approved by Northwestern Associated Student Government and Student Orgs and Activities.
“What I’d love to do is create a community where you could find time to meet new people over a shared interest that you wouldn’t necessarily be able to meet otherwise,” Gizaw said. “And the club is across all across all different majors and different walks of life, so I think it’d be amazing to to form a community and meet random people and make new friends.”
Interested in starting a club of your own?
Whether you want to start a club that fosters a community of students with the same pre-professional goals or create an embroidery club because the knitting club just won’t suffice, the process is simple!
The application to start a student organization is available on the New Student Org Review Committee’s Wildcat Connection page. To become a recognized org:
- Reach out to your favorite professor or staff member to serve as an advisor and fill out an advisor acknowledgment form
- Complete the orientation modules in Canvas
- Dish all about your club’s goals, values, and objectives in a few short-answer questions.
The approval process typically takes two to three months, and while meetings and general recruitment can take place during this period, event planning and fundraising will have to wait until the application is approved (feel free to start brainstorming, though!) Despite there already being 500 students clubs and organizations at Northwestern, there’s always room for more! Visit the Student Orgs and Activities page for more information. There’s no better way to create the community you’ve been looking for.