Whether you’re a freshman looking to get more involved on campus, or a student who is looking to build on your interests, you’re sure to find a club that will be a fit for you! Here’s some club suggestions to get you started.
1. Operation Smile:
Looking for a way to help underserved children in your community? Operation Smile is a global non-profit organization that serves children with cleft lips and cleft palates and raises funds for surgeries to improve the health and well-being of affected children. Loyola has its own chapter that serves children internationally and in the Greater Baltimore area.
Hannah Kelly ‘25 is the current president of Loyola’s Operation Smile chapter. Kelly is in charge of contacting local cleft lip and palate teams, such as The Greater Baltimore Medical Center (GBMC), and raising awareness about the club’s mission.
“Our club’s goal and mission is to provide support for international and local cleft lip and palate teams by organizing fun events for the patients and raising funds,” Kelly said.
Throughout the school year, the Operation Smile club holds several events where members of the club can volunteer and help local patients.
“Most years we do this goodie bag event, where we get a bunch of toys and candy together to bring to the patients and their families, and they absolutely love it! In the springtime, we do this pizza party with them where we do arts and crafts, and a magic show, and just tons of food and pizza there. It’s super fun and it really makes the families happy, and the patients. It puts a smile on their face, because they’re really going through a lot,” Kelly shared.
Kelly believes that anyone would be a good fit for this club, especially students who are looking to connect with the local community.
“We have great volunteering opportunities that are super fun, and you get to actually make a difference in the patient’s life, which is kind of unlike any other club on campus.”
Operation Smile meets a few times a month to collaborate on future event ideas and prepare for upcoming events with GBMC. For information on when and where Operation Smile is meeting and for future event info, students are encouraged to visit the club’s Bridge page and follow their Instagram page: @loyolamdoperationsmile.
2. Fashion Club:
Are you a lover of fashion, or wish to be one? The Fashion Club is an on-campus club where all things fashion are discussed, with supplementary events such as transportation off-campus to local flea markets like ‘Vintagepalooza,’ and on-campus upcycling events.
David Avila Berlanga, 26’, is a co-founder and co-president of the Fashion Club. Berlanga described what an average meeting looks like.
“What we tend to talk about is what’s going on with fashion at the moment, whether it be new trends or things we see making a comeback,” Berlanga said.
Also emphasized by Berlanga was the club’s goal to teach students about upcycling and making smart purchasing decisions when it comes to shopping for clothes.
“We want to teach people how to be a more sustainable consumer,” Berlanga said.
The Fashion Club is aiming to host more events alongside their regular meetings.
“We want to have more fashion-related events on campus. One of my personal goals is to have a flea market on campus, with a lot of vendors from the Baltimore area, and where student vendors can sell their stuff,” Berlanga said.
The co-founder of the club also shared about some events they have already had, such as a decorating event and a Fashion Week watch party. Berlanga thinks that anyone who is interested in clothes or fashion should join the club.
“If you like the trends that are popping up or if you see yourself wanting to grow out of the trends or want to find your own personal style, you can come to the events, come to the meetings. We talk about all things fashion and how to be more sustainable- like how to upcycle your clothes,” Berlanga said.
The Fashion Club currently meets on Tuesdays in the CIE, but interested students are encouraged to check out the Events page on the Bridge for any changes. Interested students are also encouraged to follow the Fashion Club’s Instagram account, @lum.fashionclub, for more updates.
3. Hounds Helping Hounds:
Are you an animal lover? Do you live far away and miss your dog? Hounds Helping Hounds is a club that provides animal lovers with volunteering opportunities with local animal shelters and organizations like Maryland’s Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA).
Hounds Helping Hounds is also Loyola’s official Pre-Vet club and is working on providing informational resources for other Pre-Vet students.
Isabella Diaz Pabon ‘26 is a co-founder and a current co-president of Hounds Helping Hounds.
“It was a pre-med meeting right in freshman year…I remember not seeing a Pre-Vet club. I got kinda frustrated at the fact. I was a very shy person, but I remember raising my hand and being like ‘No Pre-Vet clubs?’ Dr. Wetzel had pulled me aside that same day- that same meeting- and was like ‘Hey, if you’d like to make a club, you’re more than welcome to!’ I remember meeting the two officers that work alongside me and they were like ‘I heard you wanted to start a Pre-Vet club- we wanna help!’ And that was honestly very cool,” Pabon said.
Pabon shared the importance of creating Hounds Helping Hounds on campus.
“The veterinary community is very underserved, and animal medicine is not where it’s supposed to be, and I feel like we could do so much better just by giving our time, making fundraisers, and putting a bunch of people that miss their dogs into a group! Our main goal is to serve clinics, mostly shelters, because they truly need every resource they can get,” Pabon said.
Hounds Helping Hounds has held several volunteering events, with Pabon’s favorite being the Maryland SPCA dog-walking.
“You know how your dog has a personality? I just saw these dogs and I saw previous owners and their pain, their trauma, and their little unique personalities. I could definitely tell that all the volunteers also saw them,” Pabon said.
Any student who is an animal lover or a Pre-Vet student is encouraged to check out the Bridge for upcoming events. Interested students are also encouraged to follow the Hounds Helping Hounds Instagram page, @loyola_houndshelpinghounds, for more info.
4. Tabletop Club:
Looking for a group to join a D&D campaign with? Do you love to play board games or card games? Tabletop Club is a weekly on-campus club that provides an alternative space for students to play traditional board games, role-playing games, card games, and other tabletop activities like painting mini-models.
Shiloh Shea ‘25 is the president of the club, better known as the ‘Grand High Marshall.’ They shared what an average meeting looks like, with multiple small groups playing their own games at the same time.
“Tabletop Club is a very high energy club, despite what some people might think about tabletop games. We have a massive D&D scene, if you’re into D&D. We’re trying to organize more events because we have so many people. There’s Magic the Gathering, there’s Warhammer, there’s traditional board games,” Shea said.
Colin Cohoon, 27’, the ordinance officer, shared his surprise about how many people were interested.
“We got 60 or 70 new members at the Club Fair. It was kinda insane,” Cohoon said.
The Tabletop Club does have its own funding, where the club is given a stipend to spend on purchasing games that are requested. Shea shared that they want the club to be accessible to all students, and that the officers are working with the LNDL- the Loyola Notre Dame Library- to help with that endeavor.
“We are trying to work with the library- to set up a board game library so people who don’t want to come to a big club meeting or don’t have the money to buy the game themselves can go and try out games without having the pressure of organized club events or spending money,” Shea said.
Shea and Cohoon think that anybody looking for something to do on a Friday night should join Tabletop Club.
“High-energy is not mandatory,” Shea said.
“Most people here start chill and then shenanigans go down,” Cohoon said.
“You are absolutely entitled to stop by once, but you probably won’t,” Shea said.
The Tabletop Club meets on Fridays in Knott Hall from 7-10pm. Students who are interested in joining the club are encouraged to check out the Bridge for meeting updates and are also encouraged to follow the club’s Instagram page for more information: @loyolatabletop.
5. Boxing Club:
Looking to build your strength and confidence? Do you want to find an outlet to work on your physical and mental goals? The Boxing Club is a weekly on-campus club that aims to foster a supportive and goal-driven environment for beginners and experienced boxers alike. The club focuses on building a strong community of mentally and physically fit individuals who want to work on their skills.
Jay Vidal, 26’ is a co-president of the Boxing Club along with Ahmad Miller, 26’. The pair went to middle and high school together and have been boxing for several years. Vidal shared what an average meeting looks like.
“An average meeting starts off with stretches- dynamic stretches. Our vice president, Dalu, and our treasurer Renee kinda help us through that. Then we go straight into a run. After that we go straight into drills that kinda brushes up on our basics. And then straight into our agenda,” Vidal said.
The Boxing Club is aimed at working with all skill levels when it comes to boxing.
“We want everybody to feel included. There’s a lot of times where we have to go back to the basics, basically every practice. But that’s what we’re here for. It’s mainly to build people’s confidence. Self-defense. And definitely about getting in the right conditioning and pushing ourselves,” Miller said.
“Just building our own community,” Vidal said.
Vidal and Miller think that anybody and everybody should join the Boxing Club.
“It’s cliche, but everybody. It’s not too complicated, I wouldn’t say. But you know everybody learns differently. But anybody can learn anything,” Miller said.
The Boxing Club currently meets in the FAC on Mondays from 5:15-6:45 p.m. and on Fridays from 6-8 p.m. Students who are interested in joining the Boxing Club are encouraged to check out the Bridge for meetings and events, and to follow the Instagram page for more: @loyolaboxing.
