ParentNet

While I attended Michigan Tech it was very important to me to get involved with different activities on campus. The university offers over 200 different student organizations for everyone to choose from. One great aspect is that if a student cannot find an organization that suits their hobbies, then chances are they will find other individuals who have the same interests and they can all work together to start a new group. Within this article I’ll list three different student organization categories highlighting different groups within each category.

Electronics and Computing

Over the years Michigan Tech has become a more diversified university with its students expanding the types of activities that take place on campus. This category of student organizations includes groups such as the Audio Engineering Society, WMTU, Television Production, Linux/Unix Users Group and several others. The Audio Engineering Society (AES) has provided campus with some great sound throughout the years, as they usually build an awesome stereo speakers snow sculpture for Winter Carnival. The MTU chapter of AES encourages educational interest in audio design, theory and production for all new members and advanced members are encouraged to participate in the investigation towards new and innovated audio technologies, process, approaches and theories. This group is definitely a great opportunity for anyone who has ever wanted to work with audio. WMTU is Michigan Tech’s radio station located in the basement of West Wadsworth Residence Hall and can be heard on 91.9fm on your radio dial and online. This radio station provides entertaining music of all varieties based on who the dj is for a specific time. WMTU gives students the opportunity to be live on the air playing their favorites and taking requests. In addition to playing music on the air waves, throughout the year they also sponsor different events such as Keweenawsomefest, where different music groups come up to Michigan Tech to perform for a couple of days.

Governance and Political

If your student has an interest in politics or being a student leader there are lots of governing and politics groups on campus. These groups range from the College Democrats of Michigan Tech to being a member of a Residence Hall Council. Other groups that are a part of this category include Students of Liberty, who work to promote and spread the ideals upon which the United States Constitution was written and our founding fathers beliefs, Memorial Union Board, a group of students that facilitate the use of the Memorial Union Building (MUB) for the benefit of all Michigan Tech students, and Graduate Student Council which was established to help represent the intellectual, professional and academic interests of the graduate students on campus. Many of these leadership opportunities look great on resumes and each group works hard to promote many great ideals and benefit campus in various ways.

Recreation and Gaming

The Keweenaw Peninsula is in the top 10 for greatest places for outdoor recreation in the United States. Many students choose to come to Michigan Tech because Houghton and surrounding areas provide this opportunity for those that love to explore and get outdoors. Such clubs include the Copper Country Cycling Club (C4), Disc Golf Club, Geology Club, Lacrosse Club of Michigan Tech, Snowmobile Club of MTU (Sledheads), and the Sailing Club of Michigan Tech, just to name a few of the outdoor side of this category of student orgs. Other types of groups that are more on the indoor side include Dance Dance Revolution Club, Gamers Anonymous, Indoor Track and Field Club, Social Dance, Swing Club, Table Tennis Club, and Water Polo Club. Each group has different events that they hold throughout the year and a lot of other activities that they get involved in on campus. For many students this is a great opportunity to get out and explore the unknown territory that is the Keweenaw Peninsula and for others is a chance to continue doing what they enjoy while in college.

For each of these categories I’ve only listed a handful of clubs. A more complete list can be found on the Student Organization’s website where there is a list alphabetically and by category. Through this list you can find more information about each group and a link to their websites. Next week I’ll continue on with student organizations doing a couple more categories from the big list. I also wrote two articles last year about student organizations, so looking back at the ParentNet archives is where these two articles can be found (entitled: Student Organizations Part 1 and Part 2). If there are any questions or comments about this article please email me at my personal email address. Any suggestions for future articles are welcome as well.