Last week, UW-Milwaukee students browsed over 100 student organizations and UWM departments at the Student Involvement Fair.
For newer clubs who have less than two years under their belt, including UWM Youth Empowered in the Struggle (YES) and Blitzball, the Involvement Fair is an opportunity to gain more members.
UWM YES giving voice to immigrants
Junior Jenny Moguel-Garcia stands behind a white-card table decorated with a colorful poster board alongside other members of UWM YES including Voces De La Frontera Statewide College Organizer Dylan Straube. The club is one of three YES chapters alongside Carthridge and Alverno colleges.
UWM YES is the youth branch of Voces De La Frontera, Wisconsin’s leading membership-based, immigrant rights association with a history of over 20 years whose mission is to protect and expand worker’s civil rights, according to the Voces’ website.
Moguel-Garcia explained to the Post that her goal is to have an impact on campus creating a safe space for those who are undocumented, but also in the greater Milwaukee area.
“I’ve seen and also experienced other people in my community, said Moguel-Garcia, “that have that fear of doing everything right and all of a sudden, tomorrow you could go back home.”
UWM YES provides students with the ability to discuss social justice issues on campus while providing resources and guidance for advocacy.
“This could be a direct action like a sit-in or a survey for exposure,” Straube said.
UWM YES uses the Voces De La Frontera facilities for their art builds where they create banners for marches including the Worker’s Rights Day next year.
“I’ve only grown up in the hispanic community, it was my first time being a freshman at UWM being exposed to many different cultures,” Moguel-Garcia explained. “It felt really good to speak to different people, be involved in their community, their traditions and see who they are and how they grow up.”
Blitzball Club part of growing sport
For Blitzball Club President and Founder Joe Backalars’ and club member, he grew up playing baseball, but his interest in the sport that uses plastic bats and balls started elsewhere.
“Blitzball has a decent social media presence,” said Backalars. “I found it on YouTube.”
The club started last November and this semester offers interleague play with four teams, a six to eight week-long season and a final play-off game.
Club member Mason Senkbeil, another former high school baseball player, joined Blitzball after seeing flyers around campus.
“This past summer before we got back to campus, we went to a tournament in Freeport, Illinois with teams across the country, playing against Adam Knudsen the #1 player in the world,” Senkbeil said. “It was good to see the rest of the community and a lot of YouTube heroes in the sport.”
These heroes included the Como Blitzball Club, created by sibling duo Cade and Chandler Sartain, a league-play Youtube channel that grew to sell merchandise, expand to Instagram, Tik-Tok and their own website.
For UWM’s Blitzball Club, most players do not nor need prior experience in the game, according to Balckalars.
“It’s casual to an extent, a lot of our players don’t have a ton of experience,” he said. “It’s one of those things where you pick it up pretty fast.”
Find a full list with information on the over-300 student organizations featured at the UW-Milwaukee Involvement Fair at the Student Involvement website.