Student Senate approves revival of Eastern’s Chess Club Wednesday
Julian Barbieri, a senior interpersonal communications major, celebrates for the approval of reviving the EIU Chess RSO after five years, at Wednesday’s Student Government meeting
February 9, 2022
The Student Senate unanimously voted to revive Eastern’s Chess Club Wednesday night at 7th Street Underground.
The Chess Club has been inactive for the last five years, and senior interpersonal communication major Julian Barbieri presented Emergency Bill 21-22-04 to the Senate to bring back Chess Club as an active Registered Student Organization, RSO.
Barbieri, who came to Eastern as a junior transfer student, noticed his first year the lack of a chess club which is popular to have at high schools and colleges.
“I came here last year, and I’ve been in a chess club in high school, and I really enjoyed it,” Barbieri said. “But when I got here, I learned that unfortunately our Chess Club was inactive for about five years since the last student was making it happen. So this year, I made it my project to make Chess Club into a thing.”
The Chess Club has been unofficially meeting weekly since the middle half of the fall 2021 semester with approximately six people attending each meeting.
At each meeting, the students present play rounds of chess or are taught how to play chess by Barbieri or other students.
The Senate voted 19-0 to revive the Chess Club and list the club as an official and active RSO.
The Senate unanimously approved for Freshman Connections to become a RSO.
Freshman Connection is a mentoring program for incoming freshmen and transfer students to help new students adapt to campus, have a mentor to ask any questions and an opportunity to make friends with similar interests.
Freshman Connections wishes to become an RSO to increase the number of incoming students’ awareness of the program before starting classes at Eastern.
Freshman Connections expects their number of participating students to increase next year since in-person orientations will start again this semester.
The Senate voted 19-0 in approval of Freshman Connections becoming a RSO.
The Senate is planning to provide date rape drug cards, which change colors in reaction to drugs in a drink, during the week leading up to Unofficial on March 5.
Unofficial is hosted annually at Eastern in celebration of St. Patrick’s Day with a house-crawl type party.
The Senate appointed three new senators to the Senate: Cyan Carter, Megan Thompson and Onyekachi Okoh.
Madelyn Kidd can be reached at 581-2812 or at [email protected].
