There are many interesting clubs at Mines which span a wide variety of activities and one of the most impressive is the Club Hockey team. Founded in 1995 and currently participating in the Division III American Collegiate Hockey Association, the team has provided a great opportunity for hockey players at Mines looking to play at a competitive level without the sometimes overwhelming pressure of Division I teams.
When Professors Rebecca Swanson and Deb Carney set foot on campus in 2012, they felt something was missing. “They already had this idea of coming together and making the women community stronger,” said Kownoon Her, a SWiM officer. A group for women in math was something Carney and Swanson had previously experienced and enjoyed, but there was no such group at Mines—yet. Society for Women in Mathematics at Mines was born last Spring, but truly launched in the Fall with hearty support from the Department of Applied Math and Statistics. Though Carney, Swanson, and Agata Dean were instrumental in the initiation and vision of the club, SWiM thrives from both AMS faculty and student leadership and participation, creating a vertically integrated community. Before SWiM, SWE was the only organization on the Mines campus that was specifically for women, but growing efforts by Mines to recruit more women resulted in strong support for SWiM by the campus, including WISEM (Women in Science, Engineering, and Math). SWiM is now an official student chapter of AWM, Association for Women in Mathematics.
“Being on this team has been one of my favorite experiences at Mines.”
“The hockey team is basically what keeps me sane here at Mines.”
“Deciding to join the team was the best decision I have made at Mines.”
Once a week, strategic masters clash in the club Magic: The Gathering. It is here that students can express their joy of the popular card game. “This game… pisses me off more than you can imagine,” shared current president Everett. Despite his obvious sarcasm, the general atmosphere of the room surrenders their true opinion: that this is their hobby, and this is what they like to do.
Year after year, aside from exams, move-in day proves to be one of the most overwhelming and stressful days of the semester. What better way to ease the tension of move-in day than by joining a floor filled with other freshman who all share similar interests? Mines’ five themed learning communities provide this opportunity to the students lucky enough to be selected to live on the designated floors.
New students looking for a way to get involved on campus will find that Residence Hall Association (RHA) is the place to be! From school-wide events to those centered in a single Residence Hall, this organization is the “in between of students and executives on campus,” according to President Ryan Czarny. In essence, as RHA advisor Erik Buol explained, “RHA is an outlet for students to get involved on campus, specifically those who live in the residence halls. [These students] have a variety of specific needs and we try to meet those through programming, outreach, and providing an open forum for students.”
Founded in the 1980s, the Colorado School of Mines cycling team was revamped in 2005. Today, the club has about 35 active members who participate in mountain biking. Types of mountain biking are cross country, short track, downhill and endurance racing, cycle cross, and road racing, including team and individual time trials, criteriums, and road races. The cycling season happens during both the fall and spring semester of school with a short break over winter break. This year’s president, Ian Bloomfield, only participates in the fall, during the downhill mountain biking competitions, but Nick Jimenez, the team treasurer participates in both seasons. Both would vouch that their event is better than the other, but when it comes down to it, they are both bike racing events.
After a tedious first half to the semester, spring break is always a welcome time to catch up on rest, take a trip with friends, take a stab at homework, or even serve others. Nineteen Mines InterVarsity Christian Fellowship students spent the first half of their Spring Break reaching out to the Denver community. The InterVarsity chapter has made “Spring Break Trip” an urban missions trip into the heart of Denver, a memorable tradition for seven years.
The Society of Automotive Engineers entered its twentieth year of existence at Mines this year. Founded in 1993, the club’s original purpose was to build a race car to compete against schools across the world. In recent years, the club focused on putting together a car show every year during the E-days event. This year, the club is bringing back the race car along with hosting the car show. According to Jake Krapes, the current club president, the Society of Automotive Engineers currently has “about 70 people signed up on Orgsync, 40 active members, and 15 or so members are part of the Formula Society of Automotive Engineers.” The Formula team is the group of students involved in designing, building, assembling, and racing the car. One might wonder, “Can people still join?” “Of course! They can sign up on Orgsync under SAE, they will then get an email from me, and can come to a meeting which currently takes place on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 6:00 pm in the auto shop in Brown,” says Krapes.
Whether it is called ping-pong or table tennis, CSM has a club that allows for both the best players and the novice to get together and have a great time playing the sport.The president of the Ping-pong Club, Tim Musgrove, organized a time and place to train and hone the skills of every person interested.