Students Activities and Campus Engagement (SAUCE) kicked off the new school year on Sept. 1 with its annual Novopalooza, which is similar to a club rush. The typically prim and proper Sudakoff Conference Center overflowed with tables festooned with stickers, flags and posters representing the diverse clubs that New College has to offer. At their very first Novopalooza, first-year Rafiki Perez Castro was especially excited to join the knitting club, formally titled “Anarchy Death Sticks.” 

“It’s really great,” Perez Castro said. “I love the amount of diversity that I’m seeing at these tables. There’s just everything and anything. The name of the knitting club is giving respect back to the craft because these people are out here doing the most creative shit and not getting the flowers they deserve.” 

New clubs, such as the Satanist Club, were eager to join the club rush and handed out snacks and pins. Third-year and President of the Satanist Club, Mathew Senecal, expressed his excitement for the club to grow.

“My club exists to support religious pluralism as we have a wonderful variety of religious clubs on campus,” Senecal said. “This club follows the tenets of Satanism which can be summed up as ‘don’t be a dick.’ I have also heard ‘atheist with a moral compass’. I can’t wait to see how much this club grows this semester and beyond!” 

In light of recent efforts to end the Gender Studies program, many clubs promoting gender diversity and inclusion passed out flags to continue to give students a place where they can express themselves freely. There was also a new conservative club, entitled Turning Point USA, which will further add to the diversity of opinion on campus, as well as a “Stress Be Less” club, to help students wind down and practice prioritizing mental health. The club activities at New College are just beginning and they are listed on NovoConnect, which can be accessed through the MyNCF portal.