By Scott Chittock II
Youngstown State University recently saw the rebirth of its cinema club in the form of the YSU Movie Lovers’ Club.
Eric Schaefer, a junior IT major, is the founder and president of the club. Schaefer said he got into watching movies after he moved into his apartment in 2020, and has been watching them as a hobby ever since.
“This semester I kind of asked on the YSU app, is there like a club or something for like, other movie fanatics such as myself to like meet, watch movies and talk about them, to like connect,” Schaefer said. “There wasn’t. I took it upon myself to make it, to make a club of my own about this.”
Schaefer said movies are suggested by members which are chosen collectively as a group and that he wants people to watch movies and have a good time.
“I think to myself, nothing really brings people together like a good movie,” Schaefer said.
Alexis Funaro, a junior middle childhood education major, is in charge of public relations for the club and said meeting dates and times are flexible.
“If you are unable to meet with us in person, you could always just watch the movie on your own time and then meet with us,” Funaro said.
Funaro also said the club is open to a wide range of opinions and differing ideas.
“Our big thing is respecting others,” Funaro said. “We are also very respectful of everyone and differences of opinion and different views and different likes and dislikes.”
The club doesn’t have a set meeting time or location, but Funaro said Saturday evenings are being considered.
The club isn’t an official student organization, but is in the process of becoming registered. Coordinator of Student Involvement, Caleb Queen, said YSU had a movie club in the past.
“We actually had a film club. It just never re-registered,” Queen said. “Those students either graduated or decided they didn’t want to run it anymore.”
Queen said any students looking to start a registered student organization can find information on the Student Activities website.
“They can just reach out to me and we’ll sit down and have a meeting and walk through all the steps together,” Queen said, “I like to sit down and meet with the students that are trying to start the club. That way we can go over all the different nuances involved, and we can make sure they have all their, you know, ducks in a row.”
Students interested in joining the club can check its Instagram page, @ysumovieloversclub. For more information on creating a registered student organization, email Queen at mcqueen@ysu.edu.
