Which Club Should I Join?

There are over 400 student groups at Hopkins, and you’ll have the opportunity to get to know each of them at the Student Involvement Fair on Sept. 8. Until then check out the eight groups highlighted here.

Jaywalk JHU

What: A student dance group that performs in campus events, such as the Culture Show and the Dance Marathon.

Who: Victoria Gramuglia, captain

Best part of being a Jaywalk member:

“My favorite aspect of being on Jaywalk is that we express our emotion and creativity in really artistic ways. All dancers have the opportunity to audition choreography for our team to perform. Recently, our pieces have focused on storytelling and expressive movement, which counteract the idea that dance is all about jumps and tricks. It’s a very exciting place for our team to be, because in the past three years I’ve seen how Jaywalk has stepped out of its comfort zone and tried something really different with dance. We are all about taking risks and growing as dancers, so this is a fun time for us.”

Johns Hopkins Outdoors Club (JHOC):

What: Runs outdoors trips such as hiking, mountain biking or caving, free of charge for students.

JHOC also hosts on campus events which encourage people to be outdoors.

Who: Sophie Shoemaker, in charge of JHOC publicity

Favorite memory from JHOC:

“We were at Jones Quarry Cave and I found the cave formations fascinating. During the trip I was learning from older JHOC’ers how to maneuver through the cave and how to be an effective leader which are skills I have expanded on since then.

“I always think about this trip when I lead caving trips now so I can remember the feeling of wonder that other students have when they go on their first caving trip.”

Diverse Sexuality and Gender Alliance (DSAGA)

What: A club, open to everyone, that hosts weekly meetings which can range from serious discussions about trans healthcare to informal events with hot chocolate and music.

DSAGA hosts multiple events including speaker panels, movie nights and their annual DSAGA Ball.

Who: Isabella Altherr, director of administration

Fun memory from DSAGA:

“We had one meeting that we wanted to base around fashion; what clothes mean to LGBTQ people and how clothing and appearances affect identities. After we discussed in groups, we all divided into smaller teams and used old clothing we had in our storage area to put on a fashion show. The results were ridiculous and it was a lot of fun!”

Blue Jay Bhangra

What: Blue Jay Bhangra is a competitive dance team with a strong sense of community. They practice three nights a week, and often celebrate birthdays, holidays and other events outside of that.

Who: Sehej Parmar, one of the co-captains of the club, has been a member of Blue Jay Bhangra since last year.

Best memories from Blue Jay Bhangra:

“We had just gotten off stage from performing at Crossroads of Bhangra at Purdue, the adrenaline still rushing through our bodies with the high of being on stage and the crowd going absolutely wild (bhangra is always so fun to perform in front of an audience because they cheer like crazy).

“It was evident that all of us had given our all out on stage, everyone was hugging everyone and we all had huge smiles on our faces. One of our team members had an injury and had fought through it during practice, and now on stage even she had a smile on her face through some tears. We all crowded around her, someone grabbing a pack of ice for her. Just looking around, we were so happy to be a part of the team and honestly it didn’t matter whether we won or not.”

Breakers

What: A breakdancing community that includes both affiliates of Hopkins as well as members of the greater Baltimore area.

Who: Stanley Chu, rising junior and co-captain of the Breakers

What is it like being a part of Breakers?

“Our club motto is ‘each one teach one’ because breaking, it’s not just about the breaking itself. It’s about the community. There’s a culture within breaking that stresses the fact that breaking brings people together, so when we break we don’t just go off into a corner and break by ourselves. We try to include each other. So breaking, the main things about it is the battling. That forces people to interact with one another.”

Who: Matt Liu joined the club as a freshman and is about to enter his fifth year as a member of the community.

What can new members expect from joining the club:

“I tried a bunch of clubs but what stuck the most was breakdancing because everyone was so welcoming, and because out of the dance groups it is the most beginner friendly. I’d say over 90 percent of our members come in with no dancing experience. The ones who stick with it, by the time they’re seniors they’re all very good.”

Buttered Niblets

What: A comedy improv troupe that performs on campus and competes at the local and national level.

Who: Phoebe Gennardo, a current senior, has been a Niblet since her freshman year.

Why she joined the Buttered Niblets and why you should too:

“I seriously never thought I was funny — which is probably a really bad way to start a blurb about how much I love my comedy improv troupe.

“After watching the Buttered Niblets perform at my freshman year Theatre Showcase, after laughing so hard I choked on air, and after day-dreaming for a whole week about joining those seven insanely cool improvisers, I found myself auditioning anyway along with forty other people for a spot. I found more than a troupe, I found a family.

“We practice twice a week, and it’s the perfect place to forget the stress of school.

“Whether you are a life time comedian or if you have always thought you weren’t funny — don’t be afraid to give the Nibs a try! The first show is Sept 8th at 8 PM in Arellano. Auditions are the same weekend.”

Hopkins Emergency Response Organization (HERO)

What: A student run emergency medical service organization which responds to medical emergencies on or around the Hopkins campus. Students don’t need any prior emergency medical service (EMS) training in order to apply as a member.

Who: Chris Wend, captain

Why join HERO:

“It’s really the only opportunity for students to actually treat patients. People can volunteer at a hospital, they can do research and stuff, but they never actually get to put hands on a patient or do the dirty work of actually treating a patient. That’s the really cool thing about HERO, that’s why I joined EMS.”

The Johns Hopkins Film Society

What: Works to spread film culture on campus and throughout the Baltimore community. They hold frequent film screenings, as well as a film festival in the spring semester.

Who: Gillian Waldo, co-director of the society

Favorite Event:

“We held a live reading of The Princess Bride featuring local icons DDM, Rahne Alexander, John Astin, and Dan Deacon, among others. We rented out the 2640 Space and everyone sat on pillows and gazed up at the performers on stage.

“It was a pretty great performance, complete with a sword fight, a lot of wigs, and a giant paper maché rat.”