June 25–July 1, 2008, Number 498
Student Organizations Part 1
Getting involved in some part of campus life is a great way to help students be successful here at Michigan Tech. There are about 200 student organizations that offer a variety of activities for students. Since there are so many groups to talk about, the next two articles will be about different Student Organizations. This week I’ll focus on Academic, Professional & Honors, Musical & Theatrical, and Recreation & Gaming.
Academic, Professional, and Honors
There are 82 different student organizations that are listed for this category. They range from Alpha Kappa Psi, a professional business fraternity, to Women in Computing Sciences, society of women working to increase knowledge and interest in the field of computer science. These organizations are established for students to be able to continue being a part of a group that prides themselves on their integrity. Students who are a part of these organizations can receive great opportunities to assist them in their futures. Many organizations for this particular category are developed to fit the needs of every student on campus.
Musical & Theatrical
Although most think of Michigan Tech as a mostly engineering school, many engineers can be found entertaining upon the stage and performing music. Therefore, over the last several years, the amount of musical and theatrical activities has grown. The eleven different student Musical and Theatrical groups give those students that enjoy the entertainment side of life a chance to step away from their books to perform. Some of my favorite people here on campus can be found in the bleachers at the sporting events in their striped bib overalls cheering our Huskies on to success! The Michigan Tech Pep-Band is a lot of fun, and the group known as the Dawgs was set up to create an even closer bond between the members of this group. For those that enjoy the more technical side of the music industry, then Audio Engineering Society might be the group for you. For the theatrical side of things, there is the one student group called the Student Entertainment Board. Students involved in this group work to bring in several different traveling acts (comedy, concerts, plays, etc) for the students of Michigan Tech and the local community. So as you can see, there are several different groups for the entertainers of our student population.
Recreation and Gaming
For those of you who have been to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and have seen the wonderful outdoors that make this place so special, you would all probably agree with me when I say that its far better to be outside than inside. It is no wonder that 60 different student organizations choose to participate in outdoor recreations, but since there is the little problem of the snowfall we receive, others have created indoor activities as well. Any one who’s interested in sports or any time of recreation can find a group that they will enjoy. For example, we have sports groups for Aikido (form of martial arts training), Alpine Racing, Badminton, Baseball, Cyclists, Fencing, Hockey, and so much more. It would take a huge article to be able to list them all for you, but based on this list you probably understand that there are lots of things to do up here. What this list doesn’t include however, are some gaming type of groups. When I say gaming, it is hard to limit the meaning of that word, because there’s gaming as in wild game (deer, partridge, fishing) and then there’s computer gaming. Both of these comprise the unique diversity of our university and therefore groups of both types can be found on campus.
More information about the different groups can be found on the Student Organization Website where the database is broken down by classification and alphabetically. Many of the organizations have separate websites that you can access via this database. Next week’s article will be looking at several more student groups (Service, Religion, and Ethnic/Diversity). If there are any questions about this week’s article, feel free to email me at my personal email address. As always, any suggestions for future articles are welcomed.
Until next week,
- Michigan Technological University
- 1400 Townsend Drive, Houghton, MI 49931-1295
- 906-487-1885