With nearly 600 clubs on campus, the UA caters to just about any hobby or field of interest when it comes to getting involved on campus.
Associated Students of the University of Arizona is the primary organization for clubs and events on and off the UA campus.
“ASUA is run by the students for the students,” said Krystina Nguyen, executive vice president of ASUA and a senior studying biology.
Numerous programs, events, resources and services can be linked back to ASUA, most notably Safe Ride, the Student Health Advocacy Committee, Freshman Class Council, Feminists Organized to Resist, Create and Empower, Pride Alliance and Spring Fling.
“ASUA is a huge umbrella that oversees a lot of really big and cool things,” Nguyen added.
Arizona Allegiance is the only honorary club on campus that is recognized by the Arizona Athletics department and participates heavily in sports games and UA Bear Down Fridays.
“We’re kind of like a spirit club,” said Joel Torres, a senior studying Spanish. “We promote spirit, overall involvement and provide more of an awareness or visibility to Arizona Athletics.”
For people who like a little adventure mixed in, outdoors club Camp Wildcat fits the bill.
Camp Wildcat takes Tucson youth on three camping trips every semester to promote team-building exercises and the pursuit of a college education. Fourth and fifth graders camp on Mount Lemmon for several days twice a semester, while another special adventure camp for middle schoolers meets at either Cochise Stronghold or Madera Canyon.
“All of the friendships that I’ve made with the people I met at Camp Wildcat have been absolutely amazing,” said Kseniya Efremova, a senior studying sociology, Spanish and Russian. “There are hundreds of other clubs at the UA that you can be involved in, but I think that just getting to go away for the weekend is so refreshing.”
ASUA also assists students with the process of starting their own clubs.
The recognition procedure is a three-step process: Once a student has an idea about what he or she would like their club to be about, they have to attend one club recognition assembly. Dates of the assembly can be found at clubs.asua.arizona.edu. The assembly provides information on how clubs work and how they should be conducted on campus. The club is then told to make an OrgSync account, which connects their resources to departments across the UA.
The club is finally charged a $30 fee by the ASUA, which provides them with opportunities for funding and room use for weekly meetings at the UA.
A list of all clubs at the UA can be found at arizonaorgs.orgsync.com.
