In the face of an almost entirely digital fall semester, Moorpark College’s biannual Club Rush tradition has chosen to adapt itself to the new climate. Instead of the traditional rows of booths lining Raider Walk from the Humanities & Social Sciences building to the Quad, Moorpark College’s Fall 2020 Club Rush will instead take place online over the course of two days.

Associated Students of Moorpark College (ASMC) Director of Student Organizations Ashwin Naresh Kumar met with club leaders at the first Interclub Council meeting of the year, where details for this new event were hammered out.

Kumar stated that this year’s club rush, “…is going to be fully virtual through Zoom. Every club will have a representative in the Main room as well as another representative in their respective breakout rooms. Every club will have 5 minutes to present their club’s mission and goals and then will answer any further questions in their breakout room.”

Aside from Club Rush, the pandemic has also affected the groups that populate it every year. Many clubs have adapted to the new climate and are planning on attending the upcoming virtual event.

Film Club is one of the groups planning to attend the upcoming event. Film Club President Liz Lattimer said that she and Film Club Vice President Phoebe Ruiz Juarez would both be attending the virtual club rush, where they plan to discuss their club and the events it puts on.

“We had our first meeting in September and our next event is October 14th. We will be watching the Japanese film Pulse (2001),” Lattimer stated. “The first film we watched was Christopher Nolan’s Memento (2000).”

Furthermore, for those worried about COVID-19, Film Club has been and will be hosting their screenings remotely. Lattimer explained the club streams the film together and discusses it over Zoom. Moreover, people have continued to attend the screenings and discussions despite the change in format, which Lattimer is happy about.

Lattimer explained, “The pandemic has affected us meeting in person, but I still saw a decent turnout to our virtual event, with great conversation before and after the film. It’s wonderful we can still “meet” and share our love for films and analyze them together.”

Meanwhile, Moorpark College’s Black Student Union is planning to use its Club Rush time slot to explain both the Black Student Union’s current purpose and how it helps Moorpark College at large.

Black Student Union President LaTanya Hulon explained that the Black Student Union aims to further positive racial relations and respect for other cultures. To those ends, Hulon continued, the Black Student Union hosts and organizes lectures, discussions and community service opportunities alongside other events. COVID-19 has disrupted these usual activities, though.

Black Student Union President Hulon elaborated, “The pandemic has affected us all but more importantly the student life as a community at Moorpark. We are restricted from being able interact physically experiencing the many different cultural Backgrounds during activities and campus events… the pandemic has changed the dynamics of how we will be able to engage with our student body & community with all the risk factors.”

However, Hulon made it clear the Black Student Union will continue to reach out and engage with anyone interested.

Hulon emphasized, “All in all this pandemic will not stop our purpose & outreach to anyone who is interested in joining or working with The Black Student Union.”

Finally, Moorpark College nature and gardening club, Nature’s Finest will also be attending Club Rush. Nature’s Finest Advisor Roger Putnam said the club will attend the virtual Club Rush and will show off photos of their on-campus garden and talk about the club in general.

Putnam also said that Nature’s Finest leadership has been meeting over Zoom to hammer out how to operate during this semester, but full meetings will resume later in the semester, while tending the garden has to wait for permission to go on campus.

Putnam stated that Nature’s Finest leadership “…are waiting until after club rush to meet with the full club. Once they are given permission to go to campus, they will go to attend the garden.”

Fall 2020 Club Rush will be held Oct. 9-10 and will run from 12 p.m. to 2 p.m. For more information on existing clubs and how to start new ones, visit the Moorpark College website.