Seton Hall’s Star Wars Club is a safe space for those interested in the intergalactic media franchise and for students searching for a way to get involved on campus.
George Rodriguez, a senior English major and president of the Star Wars Club, said the organization’s mission is “to create a space on campus for people who felt like they didn’t have other spaces they could come.”
Although the club focuses on dissecting and discussing the beloved space adventure series, the club has weekly meetings with food, video games and conversation about pop culture.
“No one is really doing homework or studying or anything,” Rachel Campbell, a senior English major, said. “We just take time to play some games, hang out with friends and eat food.”
The Star Wars Club discusses the space adventure series, among other things.
This is the first year the organization is recognized as a club, and everyone on the executive board said they would love to see the club grow.
“Last year, we were a very small group,” Rodriguez said. “There were maybe 12 of us, including the e-board, and that was a lot of fun because we had a nice tight knit community. By the end of this year, I want to have more events on campus, and I want to be more visible.”
Last year, a video surfaced on social media of a lightsaber battle in the middle of Seton Hall’s campus. Will Safin, a sophomore political science major and treasurer of the Star Wars Club, said he wanted to have a battle on a much larger scale.
“In the spring, we’re going to try to get money so that we can do an event where we have a lightsaber fight on the Green,” Safin said.
Rodriguez said he believes there is a place for everyone at Seton Hall. He explained how the club offers an inclusive space for all students.
“If you’re not great at sports, if you’re not amazing at art, if you’re super studious, if you’re just someone who likes to talk about movies, this is the space for you,” Rodriguez said.
The club members also provide opinions and critiques of the Star War films. The near-consensus within the club for favorite movie of the series was “The Empire Strikes Back.”
“That movie flows so smoothly through all the scenes and cuts,” Safin said. “There are turns in that movie that you can tell [that] when they made the movie, they were not preparing for another movie. They were making it as if it was going to be the last one.”
Rodriguez said his favorite moment of the series was Yoda and Luke Skywalker’s training scene in “The Empire Strikes Back.”
“I think that’s kind of the point where everyone is at in their lives,” Rodriguez said. “You’ve got to make big decisions and decide what you’re going to do with the rest of your life. We’re all trying to lift our X-wing out of the swamp; we’ve just got to find the right Yoda to help us out.”
Rodriguez added how the club has allowed him to take a break from the stressful college life.
Rodriguez said, “College is a really stressful time; there are a lot of people putting a lot of pressure on you. Sometimes you need a break where you can turn your brain off and watch a movie about space wizards.”
