Something For Everyone, TU

Press release from Towson University:

By Kyle Hobstetter on February 2, 2021

Featuring more than 300 clubs and organizations that focus on academics, arts, culture,
sports, Greek Life, hobbies and more, Towson University provides students plenty of
ways to share interests, meet new friends, connect with new ideas and, most importantly,
have fun.

The Office of Student Activities will host a Virtual Student Involvement Fair on Wednesday, Feb. 3, to connect interested students with representatives of more
than 100 of those organizations and clubs.

“Students should take advantage of all the opportunities that TU has to offer and
make the best of their college experience,” says Chris Rindosh, coordinator of student
organizations. “Student organizations play a crucial role in helping our students
find community, so we want to encourage that as best as possible.”

Here are three of the more unusual student clubs that can be found on campus, online
and at the involvement fair.

Members of the Towson University Esports Club compete in competitions across the country
(Photo provided by Josh Finkelstein)

The Esports Club

Esports has become a worldwide, billion-dollar industry that attracts millions of
viewers through streaming services like Twitch and television networks like TBS.

But two years ago, the TU Esports Club was almost discontinued due to lack of interest. Thanks to the work of Josh Finkelstein, who helped re-establish the club, it now features around 125 members and continues
to grow.

“I have parents of high school students telling me their kids are interested in the
club,” says Finkelstein, who is a graduate student and currently serves as club president.
“I get emails from students who are interested in transferring and want to know more
about the club.

“Most people don’t know about us, so I like to call us the largest unknown club on
campus.”

Members of the Esports Club have competed in tournaments for games such as Overwatch,
League of Legends, Hearthstone and Rocket League. In fact, Towson University esports
teams are making waves in the competitive world.

One of the club’s players was recently offered a full scholarship to play Overwatch
at another school but decided to stay at Towson University. The club has also worked
with Jericho, a video game streamer with more than one million subscribers each on
Twitch and YouTube.

TU competes against different colleges across the country in leagues and conferences.
For Finkelstein, he sees esports as an important part of a college campus.

“I know there are concerns…but I think that the benefit of students having something
to do after school and a team that competes completely outweighs those concerns,”
he says. “You’re giving them an opportunity to socialize and compete as a team and
have structure.”

To learn more about the Towson University Esports Club, students can email the club, follow them on Twitter or join their Discord channel.

The Towson University Knitting Club works on projects that they can donate to local
charities and donation centers. (Photo provided by Celeste Vandegriff)

TU Knitting Club

Sophomore Celeste Vandegriff has been knitting since she was six years old. So, when
she was looking for a way to relax while studying biology, she picked up her knitting needles.

When she found out that there was a club dedicated to knitting—that donated finished
items to local charities—she jumped at the chance to join.

Now president, Vandegriff wants to ensure members find a calm and soothing space that
is welcoming to long-time knitters and those who are looking to start a new hobby.

“I try to make our meetings as relaxing as possible,” Vandegriff says. “We've had
a couple of members join who didn't know how to knit, which is fine. So I take some
extra yarn and make a little care package.

“I’ll drive over and drop it off, and then I’ll send them links to YouTube videos.
And if they have questions, they can come to me.”

Vandegriff admits she is a shy person, but becoming president of a student club has
built her confidence and helped her find a group of like-minded individuals.

Finding a peer group is one of the main reasons she suggests students join a student
organization. And if they are excited about knitting, she’ll be happy to show them
the ropes—or the yarn.

“It’s great to see the support we provide for each other, because it helps us get
through school,” Vandegriff says. “Just to come to a space where there are other students
who are going through a similar struggle and talk about a common goal, I think it's
very important because we're not getting that right now.”

Those interested in the TU Knitting Club can send an email to Vandegriff or check out the TU Knitting Club Facebook group.

Ben Guevara, president of the TU Cosplay Club, patterns his costumes after Marvel
Comics heroes such at Daredevil. (Photo provided by Ben Guevara).

TU Cosplay Club

When junior Ben Guevara came to Towson University, the electronic media & film major had been cosplaying and attending conventions since 2012.

When he started at TU, he thought there might already be a club dedicated to cosplay
and the community surrounding it. Unfortunately, there wasn’t…yet.

But when he started the club, it turned out there were plenty of people who wanted
to join.

“To be honest, I wasn't sure what to expect because cosplay is a very niche hobby,”
Guevara says. “I thought that, if I try to start a club for it, maybe we’ll pull in
just a few people who'd be interested. But when we had our interest meeting, we had
over 20 people that came just because they heard about it and were interested in being
part of it.”

And the club has continued to grow, even during a pandemic. Guevara says they have
meetings over Zoom where they share their creations and talk about cosplay community
topics.

Cosplay costumes are designed after characters from many forms of media: film, television,
video games, comic books and Manga. Guevara bases many of his costumes after “Star
Wars” and Marvel characters, with his favorite being inspired by the title character
of Netflix’s “Daredevil.”

One of the reasons Guevara wanted to start a club was that he joined the Marine Corps
right out of high school, so he didn’t know anyone when he came to TU. Instead of
joining a club that he was only moderately interested in, he wanted to start something
he was truly passionate about.

“This has been such a good way for me to make friends and be part of a community,”
Guevara says. “It’s been great that between work and studying, you can find a group
of people who become your friends and share the same interests.”

To learn more about the TU Cosplay Club, join their Discord channel, follow them on Instagram or send an email to the club’s leadership team.

This story is one of several related to President Kim Schatzel’s priorities for Towson University: Diverse and Inclusive Campus.

This press release was produced by Towson University. The views expressed here are the author’s own.