With just two days left until Halloween, holiday excitement filled Santa Monica College's main campus for Club Row.
On Oct. 29, from 11:15 a.m. to 12:45 p.m., club members dressed in costumes set up and decorated their booths along the quad, filling cauldrons with smoke, hosting screaming contests and passing out candy to attract students to their clubs.
SMC’s Associated Students welcomed students to Club Row, setting up a booth at the front of the quad alongside Black Collegians. Vice President Gabriel Sanchez explained the role Associated Students plays on campus.
“Associated Students is essentially the student government here at SMC. It’s composed of 16 directors who all have their own responsibilities like vice president, president, budget management, equity and diversity which is especially important in today's state of the world,” Sanchez said.
Associated Students holds a public meeting every Monday from 3 to 5 p.m. on the second floor of the Cayton Center.
“That’s where all 16 of the board directors hold their business meetings, and it's always open to the public, and we always welcome public comments in the beginning,” Sanchez said.
Although Associated Students is not a club and requires counselor recommendations and approvals, Sanchez wants students to know that “the process isn't as hard as it seems, and we want you guys to join as much as you guys would want to join us, so please don’t be afraid to say hi, we’re here to make this process easier for you guys in the future.”
Vivian Le, president of the Women in Business Club, set up a popular booth, continuing the club tradition of offering various levels of prizes to students willing to “Scream for Matcha.”
“First is the purple, which is the small prize, The New Hydration which is our sponsor, then our green prize, which is just matcha, and our gold is for our best screamers, with matcha and the New Hydration packs,” Le explained amid the crowd and screams. “We have our past baristas here, Eliana and Joe, used to work at Starbucks!”
Women in Business meets every Tuesday at 11:15 a.m. in HSS 255, featuring guest speakers, networking and mentoring.
Joanne Han, co-president of the first-semester Dabblers Club, and club member Lukas Weis welcomed students to join an organization where they don't have to settle on just one interest.
“Every month we're trying new things from sports, arts, crafting, and even baking, and we are going to go on little field trips like hiking and stuff like that,” Han said.
Han said Dabblers is for students who have a hard time settling on one hobby, like herself.
“It's for people that want to try multiple things, and you know, discover what they want to do,” she said.
As a first-semester club, Dabblers welcomes all students to join its first meeting on Tuesday, Nov. 3, from 11 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. in HSS 155. The club is also looking to fill leadership positions, including treasurer, secretary and ICC delegate.
With a large turnout of students, clubs and Halloween festivities, Sanchez thanked students for coming out to participate.
“Club Row is one of the best events of the year, especially the Halloween one,” he said.