Cal State University of Northridge emphasizes on its fifty years of life changing opportunity and if opportunity is what you are looking for, the Matador Involvement Center is where you need to go.

The Matador Involvement Center is located by the student union on the first floor of the ‘Sol Center’ building by the student union. This center was officially opened at this location since the fall of 2004 and gives students the opportunity to get involved in volunteer work and join various clubs and organizations.

Assistant Director of Student Involvement, Vicki Allen, says variation gives students the chance to get involved where they feel the most connected and there is no one club or organization that is better than the next. It has to do with where students feel the most comfortable and what suits them the best. Allen explains how students connect in different ways, therefore with variation of clubs and organizations, students have many options. For instance, there are academic based clubs, special interest groups, cultural groups and sports clubs where there are even competitive leagues such as hockey and boxing. “There are about 250 to 260” groups and the numbers fluctuates says Allen.

Students can join clubs or organizations any time but there are some that have certain recruitment periods such as fraternities and sororities who usually recruit in the beginning of the school semester and sport groups are involved according to their season.

Like any club or organization, there are leaders who are picked by the students themselves and students have control over how the organization or club is managed.
CSUN student Andrew Collard, 20, is a program volunteer and one day events coordinator at the Matador Involvement Center and says he enjoys being part of the center because he gets the opportunity to “work on certain one day events such as the Aids Walk” and says his involvement allows him to meet professors and people which helps he says because “it is good to have references for the future.”

Allen says it is beneficial for students to get involved because it gives them “a reason to work hard” and “compliments why you’re here.” Students who are involved in something have more of an initiative to do well academically if they want to continue being part of their club or organization, but getting involved offers students not just a nudge to do well in school but opportunities to meet new friends and explore college in different ways.