Welcomeback!TheReturn ofCommunicationClub

Rebecca Kranich Social Media Editor

After over a decade without the club, sophomores Colin Ratner and Sage Clarke are on a mission to bring the Communication Club back to campus. With the help of Thom Gencarelli, the club’s original faculty advisor, the new and improved organization is opening its door to provide a more widespread space for communication students to come together.

“The communication club fell by the wayside, but we didn’t take it off the website,” said Gencarelli, founding department chair and professor. “We just waited to see if people would come along and take interest.”

Ratner, a communication student and now president of the communication club, noticed the empty website while looking for clubs to join.

“So I was doing some research, and I came to find out the communication club has a website, but it does not have a club attached to it,” said Ratner. “So I took it upon myself to reinstate this club. It’s for students like me, who don’t know what to do with their degree, who just want to be in a group of people that share the same interest.”

Similarly, Clarke, a communication major and now treasurer and secretary of the club was looking for a space to explore different disciplines.

“I was interested because we have a lot of niche clubs, but not one that would let you try out a bunch of different fields,” said Clarke. “So I was interested in that.”

While the communication department has many clubs, most are related to academics or the industry. The original Communication Club was formed to entice students to the department; however, the new role of the club is to socialize students.

“The department has a series of clubs and related activities that are all professionally oriented,” Gencarelli said. “We have a chapter of the American Advertising Federation, the Public Relations Student Society of America, the MCTV club, and the Quadrangle. So we have all of these other things going on. So why should we have a communication club? I think it should be social. I think it should try to get us together.”

For Ratner, reuniting students is a priority of the Communication Club.

“We’ve been talking to many other clubs, WRCM, and we want to talk to Lotus and plan some school events,” said Ratner. “Something we missed during COVID was a big school dance or a formal gathering of people under one roof. We would love to bring that to the school.”

Furthermore, Gencarelli reiterates the need for social clubs during the years postCovid.

“There is something about the nature of us as social beings who like to be together, espe- cially when there are times where we want to kick back and have some fun and do cool things,” said Gencarelli.

While the club plans to take on new roles, Ratner and Clarke are tapping back into the roots of the original club in promoting the communication department.

“Our whole reality is affected by tons of different areas of communication,” said Clarke. “It [the communication club] could show that a communication degree is versatile; you can apply it to many different areas.”

Clarke and Ratner are making tremendous efforts to try and get the club in the right direction and help promote what communications really offers.

“We’re really trying to get people’s foot in the door for this degree. That’s actually so much fun to learn,” said Ratner.

However, the Communication Club wants to do more than host events and promote. The club wants to impact students on a deeper level.

“In these four years, if you want to make the most of it, how do you do so? That’s the communication club’s job to go beyond the classes and the pre-professional work that you do to prepare yourself. What else can we do to bond and to develop friendships and to make the most of this and have a good time,” said Gencarelli.

To join the communication club, email communicationclub@manhattan.edu or follow the communications club on Instagram: @mccommclub.

Editor’s note: The Quadrangle’s Assistant Sports Editor Isaiah Rosario is communication club’s vice president.