The Great Outdoors Club

Under its original name, Club Adrenaline offered its members the opportunity to go zip-lining in the fall and snowboarding over winter break.  The introduction of two new co-presidents for the spring semester, however, has brought big changes to the club, including a new name: the Great Outdoors Club.

“The idea behind the club is … a way of
getting students to break outside of the Marquette bubble,” said Frank Will Bufe, a sophomore and co-president of the club. “We’re trying to engage students with the city in a way that’s fun.”

Instead of only hosting large trips, Bufe and co-President Alex Kane intend to involve members on a weekly basis.

“Who doesn’t like kayaking?  Who doesn’t like canoeing?  Who doesn’t like hiking?” Bufe asked.  “They’re just inherently fun activities that can bridge that connection and connect you with this community that is so essential.”

With about 45 current members, the Great Outdoors Club hopes that actively engaging in the Milwaukee community will bring in more interested parties and greater student involvement.

Watumishi

Three Marquette students ventured to Voi, Kenya in the summer of 2004 for a stay with the Catholic Sisters of St. Joseph at the St. Joseph Shelter of Hope. After returning from their five-week trip, these students developed Watumishi, a Marquette club centered on HIV/AIDS awareness. They began a project to aid in the construction of a library for the shelter.

“The building’s up, the internal structure’s done, it’s been thousands and thousands and tens of thousands of dollars that have gone into this,” said Hillary Gorin, senior and current president of Watumishi. “We’re pretty much just putting the final touches on it.”

Over the years, Watumishi has helped raise funds for the completion of the library with events such as Kick for Kenya, which is a barefoot soccer tournament, and its annual Chili Cook-Off. With the project nearing completion, Gorin hopes for a continued future of success for Watumishi and the St. Joseph Shelter of Hope.

“All of the current members and the future members hope to maintain a relationship with Voi, Kenya and continue, in one way or another, making a difference there,” Gorin said.

Active Minds

As one of the nation’s 330 university chapters, Marquette’s Active Minds club has partnered with the Counseling Center and the Center for Psychological Services to promote mental health awareness among college students.

“A lot of what we do is trying to reduce the stigma surrounding mental illness.  For some people, it’s just not easy to talk about … what we try to do is ease the conversation about that,” said Meghann Rosenwald, a sophomore and current historian of Active Minds.

To promote mental health awareness and reduce said stigma, Active Minds frequently occupies a table in the Alumni Memorial Union in order to advocate their message, as well as recruit new members.  Not only this, but the club hosts events like National Day without Stigma in October and Mental Health Awareness Week in the spring.

With an email list of about 200 students and 25 to 30 students actively attending meetings, Rosenwald is excited to get students involved in Active Minds and informed about mental health issues as they relate to college students.

“We’re slowly gaining a lot of momentum getting in with this movement,” she said.

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Step Up! Marquette Chapter

 The Step Up! American Association for Rwanda Women was founded in response to the Rwandan genocide that took place over the course of about 100 days in 1994.  Marquette opened up its own chapter in 2009 to aid in relief efforts.

“A lot of the survivors are women from the genocide, so they need a lot of psychological help.  They are the ones who are rebuilding their country, so our goal as an organization is to fundraise to help them reestablish their lives,” said Lara Johann-Reichart, junior and president of the Step Up! Marquette chapter.

The club is continuing such fundraising efforts as bake-sales and film screenings.  Not only this, but the club will be hosting a panel discussion with Step Up! founder Dr. Bea and her husband Dr. Tim this April.

With about 10 to 15 student members, the Step Up! Marquette chapter is hoping to continue growing as they have over the past two years.  They hope to incorporate T-shirt sales and other social fundraising activities in the future, as well as collaborate with other social awareness clubs around campus, in order to bring more members to the club.