The MSU makes Bounce Life its centralized management platform for campus events and club activities
The McMaster Students Union has teamed up with Bounce Life to streamline event management and boost student engagement on campus. Announced on Instagram on July 29, Bounce will be the official community and events platform for the MSU and its affiliated organizations and student clubs.
The platform will serve as centralized hub, simplifying event planning for campus services and student clubs.
In an interview with The Silhouette, MSU president Jovan Popovic detailed the platform's benefits and its prospective impact on students.
“It’s about transparency … showing people everything that’s going on, connecting people, showing you which of your friends are going to certain events. There’s a lot of nifty features where I think people can see the best of what’s happening on campus … and connect them better than any other platform that we currently have,” Popovic said.
It’s about transparency … showing people everything that’s going on, connecting people, showing you which of your friends are going to certain events. There’s a lot of nifty features where I think people can see the best of what’s happening on campus … and connect them better than any other platform that we currently have.
Jovan Popovic
President, McMaster Students Union
Bounce, accessible via a mobile app, offers robust event management tools and features to make make event organizing streamlined and to increase engagement. Most important to the MSU, its services and student clubs is that users can host and manage event listings, track attendance, communicate with participants, and offer real-time updates during events.
One key feature is that it handles ticketing and paid events. Before, student clubs would have to choose their own service, such as Eventbrite, to sell tickets and collect fares.
Other notable features include an invite back option for re-inviting previous attendees and free SMS blasts for event-day communication.
Popovic explained that other universities, including the University of British Columbia and Western University, have already chosen Bounce as their event management system for student organizations.
"It’s a relatively newer product, but it’s being rapidly adopted. UBC and Western have integrated it, and many larger student unions across the country are taking a serious look at it. We all share the same vision of unity, connection, and belonging,” said Popovic.
It’s a relatively newer product, but it’s being rapidly adopted. UBC and Western have integrated it, and many larger student unions across the country are taking a serious look at it. We all share the same vision of unity, connection, and belonging.
Jovan Popovic, President
McMaster Students Union
The rollout of Bounce is ongoing and the first MSU events of the school year are now listed on the platform. Tickets for the upcoming homecoming concert with Loud Luxury and Lil Tecca became available on Bounce on August 30.
Popovic mentioned that him and his team promoted the app during welcome week, offering incentives such as free items to encourage sign-ups. “Now it’s about seeing how students experience it and letting them use it. We’re at the stage where we can start communicating with them through the app and posting our events,” said Popovic.
Popovic noted that with the usage of Bounce, he hopes to see more event attendance and engagement. "We've seen a significant boost in the number and quality of events on campus and I think a lot of that will be reflected on Bounce. Bounce will help us raise awareness. Once students attend our events, it's easier to keep them coming back," he said.
Students can access Bounce by downloading the app and signing up with their university email. For updates on campus events, follow the MSU and @bouncelifemac on Instagram.
Get ready to laugh out loud with and interact with McMaster's improv team at the Westdale Theatre!
The McMaster Improv Team will be taking the stage on September 19 at 8:00 p.m. at the Westdale Theatre. This event promises an evening filled with spontaneous humour and engaging comedy, featuring not only the McMaster Improv Team but also a lineup of other hilarious acts including Dave Barclay, Carson and Taylor, and Smooth Comedy.
The McMaster Improv Team operates with a blend of structured improvisation and creative freedom, ensuring that each performance is both unpredictable and engaging. The team requires the use of quick wit to create entertaining narratives on the spot. “You go from club practices where you're performing scenes in front of your fellow members, which is easy, and then you go to performing in front of a crowd who might know nothing about improv.” explained Rachel Brinzan, vice president of promotions for the McMaster Improv Team.
The McMaster Improv Team creates narratives in real-time, a process that Brinzan finds very enjoyable. “If you’ve ever watched a TV show and seen a plot develop, in improv, you’re making that plot up on the spot. Sometimes, things circle back in scenes, creating a very interesting narrative,” Brinzan explained. This unscripted nature of improv allows the audience to experience a fresh and dynamic performance with every show.
If you’ve ever watched a TV show and seen a plot develop, in improv, you’re making that plot up on the spot.
Rachel Brinzan, Vice President Promotions
McMaster Improv Team
The team is divided into junior and senior divisions, with two student coaches and a head coach. The junior team consists of beginners who are new to improv and is under the guidance of student coaches Gabby Pelosini and Keon Madani.
The senior team includes those with more experience, further honing their craft under the direction of head coach Kevin, who oversees the entire group. “Kevin is an experienced improv coach with over 10 years of acting experience. He teaches us the curriculum and helps us develop our skills,” said Briznan.
The upcoming event at the Westdale Theatre will provide the team with a diverse audience off campus. “We’re excited to perform at the Westdale because it’s a great way to reach out and meet people who aren’t just on campus,” said Brinzan.
The McMaster Improv Team’s show is not only a chance to enjoy some great comedy but also an opportunity to try out improv for yourself. As Brinzan puts it, “Improv is all about having fun and enjoying the moment. Even if you’re not an actor, you can come and enjoy the performance or even consider trying it out yourself.”
Improv is all about having fun and enjoying the moment. Even if you’re not an actor, you can come and enjoy the performance or even consider trying it out yourself.
Rachel Brinzan, Vice President Promotions
McMaster Improv Team
McMaster Improv also includes an interactive element where the audience has influence on the performance. The performers will occasionally prompt someone in the audience for a subject, then the improv team creates a storyline from it. “You [the audience] can shape the way the scene is. If you want a scene to be about tomatoes you can have the scene about tomatoes. It's just a really fun interactive event. And you get to see how other people are going to interact with you, with your scenarios and with the people up on stage,” said Brinzan.
This event will be a great way to experience the creative energy and community spirit of the McMaster Improv Team. Don’t miss out on this opportunity to witness a night of spontaneous comedy and interactive fun. Grab your tickets, bring your friends, and get ready for an unforgettable evening of laughter at the Westdale Theatre on September 19th!
Discover fresh faces and exciting opportunities with the newest clubs at McMaster University
McMaster University has over 250 student-run clubs on campus across diverse categories that include but are not limited to academics and athletics, culture and religion and social issues.
Students have the freedom to pursue their passions that are related to their degree or independent of it. The variety of clubs at McMaster create spaces for students to connect with likeminded individuals and get involved with exciting initiatives and events.
While there is a vast amount of MSU clubs, this number only continues to grow as new intelligent cohorts join the McMaster community. Here are a few new notable MSU clubs to check out!
Eating Disorder Awareness McMaster
To raise awareness of eating disorders and their effects on people's lives, Eating Disorder Awareness McMaster aims to share helpful information to the McMaster community and resources to those affected. EDMAC is a newly created affiliate of the Collaborative Eating Disorder Awareness Association, a nonprofit organization that shares a similar mission to generate a better understanding of eating disorders in Canada. Sharing information about eating disorders spreads awareness to those ignorant to their severity and validates students that may not know how to seek treatment.
McMaster BlackPrint
Made for black men by black men, McMaster BlackPrint is a club dedicated to creating spaces to bring together and uplift black-identifying male students. Black male students are often underrepresented in university spaces. Through collaborative events with other MSU clubs and support from the Black Student Success Centre, showcased on their social media, BlackPrint creates safe spaces for mental health discussions, academic tools, and career-planning resources.
McMaster Chapter of the Golden Key International Honour Society
An exclusive club that supports McMaster’s finest academics, the Golden Key International Honour Society is an invite-only club where its members are among the top 15 per cent of their field of study. The Golden Key International Honour Society is stated to be the largest collegiate society on both their social media and official website. Holding connections with over 400 universities, this club represents the McMaster chapter of this honour society. Members of this club are provided exclusive networking opportunities, scholarships, and career-building resources.
McMaster Young Liberals
Currently McMaster’s only politically affiliated MSU club, the McMaster Young Liberals are returning after
“My big goal is I want a lot of people to come out and see that politics can be fun. I want to decrease that perceived barrier of entry into it. I want to get people to come out and realize they can make an actual difference in their community and really be involved,” said Max Dressler, provincial president of McMaster Young Liberals.
McMaster Young Liberals hopes to create a space for students both new and familiar to politics to openly discuss their concerns and opinions.
“Get involved and share your opinions because those opinions may very well become law,”
Whether you're looking to meet new people or discover a new interest, consider checking out a new club this semester.
McMaster Film Production Club co-presidents, Amanda Dam and Hala Jaber, discuss what their new club has to offer students
Breaking into the film industry can be an uphill battle, especially as students, who often have little to no connections within show biz and lack any previous experience to qualify for opportunities in the present. Upon realizing this collective struggle among their peers, two McMaster University students, Amanda Dam and Hala Jaber, looked for a way to bridge this gap between theory and practice. Now the co-presidents of the newly ratified McMaster Film Production Club, Dam and Jaber sat down to talk with the Silhouette about how the club came to be, the production for the club’s first short film, what students can look forward to and the importance of fostering young filmmakers.
Before we start, could you tell me a little bit about yourselves and what you were doing before MFPC?
Amanda Dam: I’m currently a fourth-year student enrolled in the Arts and Science program combined with Media Arts program.
Hala Jaber: I’m in my fourth-year pursuing an honours degree in Media Arts. Amanda and I first met during our second year of university as coworkers and instantly bonded over our mutual passion for film and media production.
Why did you start MFPC and when did it go from idea to conception?
Jaber: After our second year, we felt that McMaster lacked a community for students interested and passionate about film production. We shared this vision of having a film or media production club that could unite students interested in film and provide a platform for collaborative projects. The idea had always been there, but we started taking it seriously during the summer of 2022 while we were sitting in a dessert restaurant.
Dam : And when we presented the proposal in December 2022, the response was incredible. We had around 100 students sign up, and that’s when we knew that our idea was becoming a reality. Since then, MFPC has been a club that works towards bringing together passionate students and fostering a vibrant creative community on campus.
That’s amazing to hear. For students who may still be hesitating, what can they expect from joining?
Jaber: Joining MFPC as a team member means gaining hands-on film production experience and collaborating with other McMaster students on the creation of a film throughout the academic year. Students are given the chance to be involved in various film production stages, including script writing, cinematography, sound design, and post-production.
Dam: The club also aims to give members the chance to contribute to all of these stages. It provides an excellent opportunity for students interested in the film industry to gain resume-worthy experience while also connecting with others who share similar interests.
Why do you think it’s important to support young filmmakers and creatives?
Jaber : We believe it is important to support independent and student-made films and creatives, as it gives the opportunity to promote diversity, different perspectives and representation of various issues.
Dam : It is also important to support fellow students and to listen to what they have to say. Student-made films foster a supportive community of those who share the same passion.
To become a MFPC member, check out a club membership here and visit the club’s Instagram page @McMasterFilm for the latest updates.
McMaster’s Terry Fox Club is hosting their first run since the start of the pandemic on Sept. 21 at McMaster Track Field
McMaster University has been hosting a Terry Fox run since the tradition began in 1984. In 2020 and 2021, the event had to be conducted virtually due to COVID-19, but this year, on Sep. 21 at 10:30 a.m., the Terry Fox Club is bringing the tradition back to campus.
The Terry Fox Club at McMaster raises money for the Terry Fox Foundation, who donates the funds for cancer research. The club also hosts several fundraisers throughout the year, though their most notable is still the annual Terry Fox Run.
Despite limitations during the peak of the pandemic, the Terry Fox Club continued to host events over the past two years year. The club hosted one event last year where they sold T-shirts and bracelets and raised $700. With their in person events this year, they hope they can surpass that record.
The Terry Fox Run will take place on the McMaster Track Field and will begin with speeches, followed by the self-paced run. Towards the end of the event, there will also be closing speeches.
Kristine Braun, vice president of the Terry Fox Club, along with the rest of the team are very excited to be bringing the run back to McMaster for the first time since the start of the pandemic.
“I'd say a lot of people are coming to campus right now for the first time. And I think one thing that they can bring from high school is Terry Fox, in a sense, because he's always around, like through our childhood, through high school. And this is one way that we can get out there and then also support a good cause like cancer research,” said Braun.
"I think one thing that they can bring from high school is Terry Fox, in a sense, because he's always around, like through our childhood, through high school."
Kristine Braun, vice president, Terry Fox Club
The Terry Fox Club hopes that students participating in their event also have the opportunite to meet other students
Braun explained the club will also be hosting a fundraising competition for students living on residence. Each residence is encouraged to raise between $500-$1000 and the residence that can raise the most will receive a prize.
“That's a way that the residences can also connect during September since they're all meeting each other for the first time. It all adds a little bit of fun to the whole event,” said Braun.
For more information visit the Terry Fox Club via their Instagram @TerryFoxMcMaster.
C/O Kevin Patrick Robbins
MSU clubs that had to improvise during online school reflect on their first year back in person as they look forward to fall 2022
Last September, many McMaster Students Union clubs restarted in-person meetings after a school year spent online. During the pandemic, some MSU clubs found it difficult to maintain their numbers and had unique challenges to work around because of the nature of online connections.
With online school, Mac Improv did their best to continue the spirit of improvisation over Zoom calls and shows. Vice President of outreach and soon to be Co-President of Mac Improv, Dabeer Abdul-Azeez, spoke about how online meetings may have hindered improv, but also allowed the team to try new things using technology.
“[We] held online practices still. They were held over Zoom, so it was very awkward because a lot of improv has to do with being onstage and body language. [It’s] very awkward when you're just sitting [and] the camera can only see so much of your person. But we tried, nonetheless, and still held practices,” said Abdul-Azeez.
Despite the added challenges, Mac Improv still put on a few virtual shows during the year using new types of online games they wouldn’t usually get to use to improvise with such as Among Us.
“There were some digital games that we tried that we normally wouldn't have done in person. [We used] technology to help provide suggestions for the scenes or things like that,” said Abdul-Azeez.
This year, Mac Improv was almost back to pre-COVID practices, with exceptions for McMaster’s COVID safety rules. After meeting together twice a week this school year, Mac Improv is working on putting together an in-person show on April 14 at the Westdale Theatre.
Absolute Pitch, McMaster’s official show choir, also felt a hit to their club during online school. Unfortunately, their 2020 annual show was scheduled just one week after McMaster closed. Club President Haleigh Wallace expressed that having a year’s worth of work not end up on stage was frustrating, but that the club was able to adapt using individual recordings and mixing them together virtually.
“Our vocal directors ended up getting really good at audio mixing and we all would sit alone in our rooms and record our own vocal lines and then they would all get mixed together so that we sounded like one in person choir,” said Wallace.
Wallace also mentioned that there were fewer new faces during the online year, but is hopeful that with in-person meetings coming back, first-years will be excited to join new clubs. Their show this year, Retro Rewind, took place on April 3 in person live at Kenneth Taylor Hall.
“I think the two main things we're really excited about are hopefully an in-person clubs fest or some sort of similar event where we can recruit a lot more new members because our cast is very small this year,” said Wallace.
The McMaster Musical Theatre opted to keep their show online this year. Carly Black, Vice President External of McMaster Musical Theatre, spoke about keeping members during their year online.
“Our plan and our hope was to be back in person . . . We got to go back into a few rehearsals in-person, but by that time, we lost so much rehearsal time already because of McMaster pushing back its opening day to February. It was just going to be so difficult to pull together the show when we lost so much time,” said Black.
The Musical Theatre also saw a drop in students auditioning during the online school year similar to Mac Improv and Absolute Pitch.
“I definitely think there were less people that auditioned when it was online. Just because, you know, lots of people want to do an in-person show. It's just very different online . . . [For] a lot of people, things changed in their lives during the pandemic. So, a lot of people just didn't do as many things [or] join as many clubs, which is completely understandable,” said Black.
A consensus across clubs was that recruitment dropped significantly throughout the pandemic, as it was difficult to predict whether we would be online or in person or what the clubs would look like.
However, with McMaster soon to drop mask mandates campus-wide, MSU clubs may look very different come this upcoming fall. Hopefully, more in-person engagement and connections are to come.
C/O Effective Altruism McMaster
McMaster students get involved with the Effective Altruism movement to discover the career paths that enable them to do the most good
Effective Altruism is a social and philosophical movement focused on helping people have positive impacts on the world, both in their careers and in their lives generally. This movement began at Oxford University and has since amassed a number of chapters around the world.
Wim Howson Creutzberg, a second-year student at McMaster and co-president of the Effective Altruism McMaster chapter, explained that Effective Altruism attempts to use logic and reason to discover the most impactful ways to help others.
“We try to question conventional understandings of what the best ways to do good are, or even what good is. And, as it turns out, some ways of helping other people are way more impactful than others and so we do them,” said Creutzberg.
“We try to question conventional understandings of what the best ways to do good are, or even what good is. And, as it turns out, some ways of helping other people are way more impactful than others and so we do them."
Wim Howson Creutzberg, Co-president of Effective Altruism McMaster
For example, according to Creutzberg, the Effective Altruism movement has been advocating for increased resource allocation towards pandemic prevention and mitigation since before the COVID-19 pandemic began.
More generally, Creutzberg also explained how the movement has investigated what makes charities most effective at helping people. Thinkers in the movement have analyzed numerous charities and determined which ones are most effective, so that people donating to charities can consider how to have the greatest impact with their donations.
Thinkers in the movement have analyzed numerous charities and determined which ones are most effective, so that people donating to charities can consider how to have the greatest impact with their donations.
Effective Altruism is a relatively new movement, with Giving What We Can, the first international Effective Altruism movement, launching in 2009. According to Creutzberg, the McMaster chapter of Effective Altruism is even newer.
“We're really excited about this stuff because what we’ve realized is that, even as university students, our potential to do good is kind of crazy,” said Creutzberg.
While the Effective Altruism group at McMaster is not currently ratified as a club, they are hoping to achieve this status in the future. They have other future ambitions as well, such as potentially developing a small course for McMaster students who are interested in the movement.
“There's a lot of ground to cover when you start [introducing a] movement and sometimes a self-directed approach is better for some people, [whereas] sometimes being systematically introduced to ideas can be really helpful,” said Creutzberg.
Creutzberg described the Effective Altruism group at McMaster as a small but rapidly growing group of students who meet to discuss how they can have the most positive impact on the world.
“I think it could help ambitious students find meaningful careers and interesting and genuinely valuable ways to spend their time and money. And I think that could, at the very least, enrich the discussion around trying to create a better world,” said Creutzberg.
“I think it could help ambitious students find meaningful careers and interesting and genuinely valuable ways to spend their time and money. And I think that could, at the very least, enrich the discussion around trying to create a better world."
Wim Howson Creutzberg, Co-president of Effective Altruism McMaster
Emphasizing the potential of the Effective Altruism chapter at McMaster, Creutzberg said that the movement can impact the lives of students by helping them decide where to direct their energy for meaningful action.
C/O Yoohyun Park
Stringent restrictions on clubs and gathering spaces have changed student nightlife
Nights on the town replaced by Netflix parties, social gatherings constrained to a Zoom screen — those have been the realities of the university social scene for the last year. The spaces once meant for dancing and screaming at the top of your lungs just to find your voice gone the next day have disappeared over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic. The hole left by where these social spaces once stood is felt not only by students, but also by business owners and the greater Hamilton community.
Restrictions and guidelines for nightclubs, music venues and entertainment establishments have been especially stringent over the course of the pandemic, largely due to concerns over the ability to enforce mask-wearing and social distancing. As a result, a number of local nightlife hotspots have had to creatively rethink the way they operate and do business within the Hamilton community.
“Nightclubs weren't even able to open up — we're lucky because we had seating and an in-house food menu. If you didn't have seats, you weren't able to open until July 2021, so we removed all our couches from the VIP area and moved bottle service onto the dance floor. It turned into a seated party,” said Dash Majithia, manager of Zen Lounge.
Brodie Schwendiman, owner and operator of The Casbah, a live music venue on King Street West, echoed similar sentiments in regards to the ways they’ve adapted their business to meet demands of ever-changing restrictions.
“From an operational standpoint, the main way we have changed how we interact with the community would be that we have a patio now . . . People know Casbah as a place to go to see music bands or listen to a DJ. Most people wouldn’t go to The Casbah for dinner so it required a lot of extra promotional energy,” explained Schwendiman.
Though the transformation of these spaces into mainly food establishments has allowed them to continue operating given the less stringent restrictions on restaurants, there’s been a disappearance of the floors once meant for dance, crowding and heat islands of energy.
The limited operations of these gathering spaces has negative ramifications on the student social scene and larger Hamilton nightlife.
“Why do people want to go to the nightclub? To talk to other people, to dance — all of the things that were not allowed. [At Zen Lounge] you had to sit in your group that you came with. There was a max of six or eight people per table. You weren't allowed to dance. You weren't allowed to walk around and mingle,” said Majithia.
There finally seems to be a light at the end of the tunnel in terms of McMaster students’ return to campus. However, having been away from campus for so long, there is now an entire generation of undergrads who have never had a ‘normal’ undergraduate social experience. And, those social experiences aren’t always easy to find — especially right now.
Schwendiman went on to describe that, even before the pandemic, there were difficulties for small music venues like his in reaching a student audience. Non-campus-affiliated groups had a more difficult time advertising events geared towards students in the areas around campus and the variable commute to off-campus venues added a barrier to access for many.
However, nightlife establishments have now almost completely lost their student client base. In a niche market where business owners often came to know their regular student visitors on a first-name basis, the undergrad and student crowds have been especially sparse as of late.
“I feel like we've lost touch with all these groups in the last few years because the people that were coming to us to do their parties and stuff moved on. The kids never came back,” said Majithia.
On the brink of a full return to campus for the Winter 2022 semester, students back in the Hamilton area can slowly find their way into the hustle and bustle of student life and with it, the nightlife of the surrounding areas.
“Finding the time is sometimes challenging, but what I would say to students is that I encourage them to carve out time to do their own research about Hamilton's cultural scene. Online, there's all kinds of places to learn about what's going on. Social media is such an important thing now, so it's very easy to access what's going on just by surfing around,” said Schwendiman.
Despite the difficulties posed by restrictions that nightlife establishments have dealt with in the face of the pandemic, business owners and the Hamilton community are excited to welcome students back to the area. Take a night off and see what it means to experience the vibrant social spheres of the Hamilton community.
The Silhouette: Please introduce yourselves.
HL: I'm Hannah Laycock and I am President of Mac Crafters.
KD: I'm Kelly Deeth and I'm the Vice President Finance for Mac Crafters.
AS: I'm Amr Saleh and I'm the VP Finance of Senior with Skills.
ZA: I'm Zoe Ang and I'm one of the VP Events for Senior with Skills.
Can you elaborate on your Holiday Letters event?
ZA: We wanted to host a collaborative event where we could make holiday cards for seniors and then eventually donate them to senior homes. We were in a Zoom call making the cards together. We have a drop-off box on campus so whoever made cards can drop them off and then we'll send them out to a senior home. We're going to be scanning some of the physical cards and making them into a book so we can reach more homes as well.
AS: From the point of view of Seniors with Skills, one of our main missions is to combat senior isolation, especially during the pandemic. When Mac Crafters reached out to us, we thought this opportunity just perfectly aligned with our missions and goals.
What were your goals for this event?
AS: We just recognized that during this time, especially during the pandemic, a lot of seniors can feel quite lonely, especially due to things like COVID restrictions; maybe they might not have the same number of guests [or] maybe they just can't see their family as often. Hopefully, through these cards, we can say that people are thinking of them and we hope they can feel a little bit more included in the community.
HL: We really also notice that the holidays don't really feel the same on campus, especially with the restrictions. We really wanted to do something that could unite the fellow crafters.
Do you have a favorite memory from your club experiences?
AS: This event has been my most memorable experience so far just because our mission is all about trying to tackle the senior isolation that many in Hamilton might be facing. Putting together an event and seeing a tangible end outcome of the cards that we can then give to the seniors was something I found really, really rewarding.
KD: This event was so fun. It was a great chance to meet people from other clubs and meet general club members, seeing that even in an event that seems rather simplistic such as making holiday cards, everybody really does bring something different to the table. People can show that by doing something virtually or being good at art or hand lettering, as Zoe mentioned. It just showcases that even with something that seems simple and straightforward, everyone brings something different.
Do you have any big takeaways from this event in particular?
HL: For Mac Crafters, it's definitely the importance of giving back to the community. Really being able to see that in action was great, especially since we haven't been able to do that much from an online environment for such a long time. It's really an impactful thing. It's just such a warming feeling — it brings people together and, especially at this time of year, it's a wonderful thing to do.
ZA: I think that this event has opened my eyes up to more volunteering opportunities. Even though we haven't given the cards to the seniors yet, just the event itself and people coming together for the reason of helping others made it really nice to be in that call with everyone. It was amazing to be with everyone working together and taking time out of their days to help out. Hopefully, when the seniors get the cards, we can also see what they think and see their reactions.
AS: Just how much of a difference small actions can make. Taking an hour out of your day to make cards [for] seniors who might be feeling socially isolated can make a really, really big difference. I'm really looking forward to seeing the reaction from seniors once they do eventually get the cards.
KD: A lot of times with Mac Crafters, a lot of our focus can be on our own students, our own club members and mental health. That's such an amazing and really important cause in and of itself. But it was really nice for this event to shift the focus to something outside of the McMaster community and to the senior community, which is also so important.
C/O Kyle Head
Clubs reflect on the previous year and prepare for a new year as students are welcomed back on campus
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues and conditions rapidly change, students have also been doing their best to adapt their extracurricular activities. Starting Sept. 9, 2021, McMaster Students Union clubs are to follow a new set of guidelines tailored to in-person events.
Although in-person events are permitted, events are limited to 100 people outdoors or 25 people indoors. Students must always adhere to any physical distancing or room capacity limits as well.
Following the same format as the year before, MSU Clubsfest took place online. For the virtual Clubsfest, MSU Clubs features a variety of clubs from the five divisions—academic, cultural, recreational, religious and social issues — across their social media.
With over 300 clubs under the MSU, many clubs do not require students to gather in person. On the other hand, there are also clubs that operate heavily with in-person events.
Absolute Pitch, McMaster’s show choir, is one such club. As a show choir, the club involves singing and dancing for live performances. This year, Hayleigh Wallace, Absolute Pitch’s president, said that all auditions and rehearsals will be done in person.
However, the club will still be following all protocols and thus, the cast may be smaller than usual in order to abide by the 25 person gathering limit.
For performances where the club can’t have a live audience, such as their annual coffee house performance in November, those will be recorded beforehand.
Looking back on how the previous year went for the club when everyone had to be done online, Wallace said the club learned a lot about being flexible.
“I think we also just learned a lot about flexibility and we’re going to try not to enforce really hard deadlines this year, or like, we need to have this number perfected by this day. We understand that it’s okay to be flexible,” said Wallace.
“I think we also just learned a lot about flexibility and we’re going to try not to enforce really hard deadlines this year, or like, we need to have this number perfected by this day. We understand that it’s okay to be flexible.”
Hayleigh Wallace, Absolute Pitch President
Auditions for Absolute Pitch are being held Sept. 29 to Oct. 1 for both the vocal and dance cast. The club is also currently recruiting band members.
Similar to Absolute Pitch, the McMaster Musical Theatre is another club that bases its operations heavily on in-person gatherings. This year, the MMT will also be having their rehearsals in person and will be recording any performances that cannot have a live audience.
Due to the fact that MMT’s cast and crew will likely be over the 25 person limit, Isabel Diavolitsis, MMT’s president, expressed that the club plans to split up the cast and crew for rehearsals in order to follow the protocols.
Last year, with everything being done online, MMT asked club members to record individual videos of themselves reimagining and reenacting songs or scenes that they love.
Although there were some challenges, Diavolitsis said the club was able to learn from the experience.
“[There] definitely was a learning curve I'm sure like at the beginning of the year just sort of getting into it how are we going to do this and I’m sure lots of clubs had that sort of awakening. But then, after that, things started to run a bit more smoothly. I think folks have now learned that there are some things you can teach virtually which is kind of cool and maybe will reduce the amount of time we have to spend in person, especially if we want to keep limiting contact,” said Diavolitsis.
"I think folks have now learned that there are some things you can teach virtually which is kind of cool and maybe will reduce the amount of time we have to spend in person, especially if we want to keep limiting contact.”
Isabel Diavolitsis, Mcmaster Musical Theatre President
Mac One Act, a club that offers students the opportunity to participate in a variety of short plays, is also planning on incorporating in-person performances this year.
Toluwalase Awonuga, president of Mac One Act, said that the club plans to do in-person plays, but will also have some virtual plays to allow those who can’t make it in person to join.
Each play involves a group of typically no larger than six, so Awonuga believes the club should have no difficulty adhering to the COVID-19 protocols during rehearsals.
The club is looking to include both virtual and in-person plays in their final showcase in the Winter semester. Awonuga expressed that their hope is to offer the showcase to a live audience, but also online as well.
Currently, the club is reviewing scripts for their plays this year and auditions will begin at the end of October.
Aside from performance-based clubs, other clubs such as the Mac Soup Kitchen, also involve in-person activities.
Mac Soup Kitchen is a club that advocates food security, fundraises for various food accessibility programs and helps organize volunteers for local food banks and soup kitchens.
Vanessa Wong, one of MSK’s co-presidents, said that last year, the club shifted from volunteering and fundraising to more advocacy-related activities. This included online events such as a games night and coordinating a virtual food drive.
“Asking students to provide monetary donations is kind of [something] we didn't feel like was the right thing to do, knowing that everyone was you know going through hardship last year, so we wanted to just shift our focus to spreading awareness of food insecurity,” said Wong.
“Asking students to provide monetary donations is kind of [something] we didn't feel like was the right thing to do, knowing that everyone was you know going through hardship last year, so we wanted to just shift our focus to spreading awareness of food insecurity.”
Vanessa Wong, Mac Soup Kitchen Co-President
Arushi Wadhwa, MSK’s other co-president, said that a positive from last year was being able to reach out to a wide range of people through social media. However, conducting synchronous online events posed a challenge at times as the club is used to advertising for events on campus through posters or drop-ins to classrooms.
“[T]here were definitely some drawbacks, but given all of that we've definitely learned a lot [from] hosting like completely online events last year and we're really excited to implement new changes and see where MSK goes this year,” said Wadhwa.
This year, due to the difficulty of contact tracing, Wong and Wadhwa said they plan to remain mostly online.
“Keeping everyone safe is our number one priority, so we are going to remain mainly online, explained Wadhwa.
However, the club will be facilitating some in-person volunteering at food banks and soup kitchens if any club members express interest in doing so. MSK will not be heavily involved in the entire volunteering process but will help inform volunteers of when food banks or soup kitchens need volunteers.
