SMC clubs rally for new members at Club Awareness

Aalyiah Edwards, a Child and Adolescent Development major and the commissioner for the Black Collegiates Club, smiles for a photo at the clubs information table during the Spring Club Awareness event on the Santa Monica College campus on Tuesday, March 25, 2025, in Santa Monica, Calif. (Nathan Hanson | The Corsair)

Students gather on the main campus quads at Santa Monica College for the Spring Club Awareness event, organized by Student Life, on Tuesday, March 25, 2025, in Santa Monica, Calif. The event is a way for students to connect with club representatives to answer any questions about getting involved and joining a club. (Nathan Hanson | The Corsair)

Kenneth Shelton, a business accounting major and member of the Garden Club, dances to “Promiscuous” by Nelly Furtado while standing at the clubs information table on the Santa Monica College campus for the Spring Club Awareness event on Tuesday, March 25, 2025, in Santa Monica, Calif. (Nathan Hanson | The Corsair)

Romeo Jacobo, an electrical engineering major and vice president of the boxing club, demonstrates boxing techniques for Andre Evans, a junior in high school visiting the Santa Monica College campus on a field trip, during the Spring Club Awareness event on Tuesday, March 25, 2025, in Santa Monica, Calif. (Nathan Hanson | The Corsair)

Students gathered from every club on campus on March 25 to rally for new members at Club Awareness. This event is the club's annual opportunity to meet students and grow their memberships. Some clubs offered sweet treats, while other clubs offered free tutorials or free swag. Here are a few of the over 65 clubs at SMC that were in attendance at the event. 

The Boxing Club offered free boxing lessons to students. Romeo Jacobo has been the vice president of the club for nearly a year and hopes to take over as president next. “I’m really trying to put the puzzle together now so when I get my presidency everything will be in order and we will be looking at a pretty picture,” he said.

The SMC Adelante Club, an extension of the Adelante program, offered free face painting and temporary tattoos. Natalia Gutierrez, one of the club's secretaries, was dressed as a fairy to match the club's fantasy table theme. She described the club as “a family away from home.” “We are a way for POC students, specifically Latinos, to have a space in the school. To have people they can talk to and share experiences with,” she said.

The Jewish Muslim Alliance is one of SMC’s newest clubs. Club President Ariella Kohanoff explained how the hostility between students after the October 7, 2023 attack inspired her to start her club. “We promote friendship and then promote open dialogue and respectful listening,” she said.

Like many others, Kohanoff saw her friend groups being torn apart and wanted to be part of the solution. “All of a sudden holding a different view made you Islamophobic or made you antisemitic just for holding a different view, and I didn’t resonate with that. I created this club to sort of end that,” Kohanoff said.

Another new club in attendance this year was the Cosmo Club. The Cosmo Club aims to build bridges and expand opportunities for future beauty professionals to gain experience, exposure and support. 

Joydaisa MiMS, the Cosmo Club’s vice president and treasurer, said, “Our goal is to expand. We have students that are studying in the program, but our club is to branch them out so they don't think they have to go straight to the salon, or straight to a specific place. They can go to production, a law firm, they can go to space if they want to.”

MiMS offered a piece of beauty advice for all SMC students. “The best beauty secret is to love yourself because if you don’t love yourself you’ll put all the makeup on, you’ll put all the clothes on, but it won't generate. It’s your spirit on the inside,” she said.