Society Spotlight: UC Recreation and Entertainment Club (UCREC)
By Ruby Thomas
UCREC is a group for all students on campus to enjoy fun activities together. I met up with the club’s marketing and media manager, Salem Nott, who provided some more insight into UCREC’s activities on campus.
The club revolves around games in various forms – particularly board games. UCREC holds special events every semester, in addition to regular weekly activities. On Monday nights, UCREC hosts table-top role-player games such as Dungeons and Dragons, which will start in week two in the Clive Price suite above the refectory. UCREC also organises regular games nights on Fridays in the UCX student lounge throughout the semester.
Salem said the club intends to hold some special events throughout the semester. Some of these events in the past have included laser tag, Pokémon nights, as well as ‘social deduction,’ a murder mystery game. UCREC have also collaborated with other groups on campus. To celebrate Pride Month in June, UCREC and the UC Queer Club came together to enjoy a night of board games, karaoke, mocktails and pride-themed food.
Primarily, Salem says the club’s purpose is to build a sense of community outside of academia, and the club especially values accessibility for those living with a disability.
“I know my first year I was very much a homebody. Getting out and actually engaging with people outside of what your course is, is extremely beneficial for people. It’s extremely beneficial just to get out there and do something other than study because we all know that fries us after a bit,” Salem said.
As UCREC isn’t focused on any particular discipline, the club’s activities are an opportunity to mix with different types of students, which Salem says is a valuable experience.
“It gives you a different perspective of the world. I myself being a nursing student, we run into all walks of life. For me, it’s very important to actually have that outside perspective of ‘oh, this person has a different opinion to me, maybe I could learn something from this.’ Like, a lot of our guys in UCREC are business majors and IT majors, so we have a couple of different degrees sprinkled in as well,” Salem said.
In addition to many fun activities, there is another perk to joining UCREC. The club is sponsored by Good Games, a board game shop in Civic and Belconnen.
“If you become a member with us, you get a snazzy little card, [and] you get between 10 and 15 per cent off,” Salem said.
The club already has almost 70 members, but Salem says the group is always open to new people.
Interested students can come along to events at any time, but for regular members, students can join officially through UCX for $5 per year.