By RICH TADDONIO

With the handful of new clubs approved this year, students interested in ballroom dancing, playing guitar, public speaking and more might be able to find a match for themselves. Five new clubs were approved by Ellen Howard, coordinator of student engagement, on September 9. The newest clubs to join on campus are B.A.P.S. (Body, Attitude, Personality, and Spirit), Guitar Club, The Spartan League of Speakers, Ballroom Dance Club, and MEDLIFE UT.

According to Ballroom Dance Club President Megan Harp, a junior public relations and advertising major, the club accepts dancers at all levels interested in learning ballroom dance. During meetings, members will learn rhythm and smooth, the two major categories of ballroom dance.

Rhythm dances include salsa, merengue, swing and cha-cha, while the smooth dances are more along the lines of waltz, foxtrot, quickstep and tango. According to Harp, they will start lessons based on what members express most interest in.

“Our goal is to teach people ballroom dance, so they can eventually go out social dancing in the city of Tampa,” Harp said. “They will get a feeling of what it is like to put what they have learned in a real-world situation.”

A set date and time for meetings has yet to be confirmed and will be decided based on people who are interested and their schedules, according to Harp. For more information, students should add themselves to the Facebook page, “University of Tampa Ballroom Dance Club”.

MEDLIFE UT focuses more on volunteer service. The name is an acronym that stands for Medicine, Education and Development for Low-Income Families Everywhere.

The club president, Cody Cox, is a United States Navy veteran and senior biology and pre-med major. According to Cox, MEDLIFE partners with low-income communities around the world to increase and improve their access to medicine, education and community development initiatives.

“The mission of MEDLIFE is achieved in part by the recruitment of motivated students, regardless of major, who will travel to undeveloped countries such as Peru, Ecuador, Tanzania and India to assist physicians, dentists and pharmacists in the execution of mobile clinic patient care,” Cox said.

These visits to other countries are called mobile clinic trips.

MEDLIFE UT already has over 50 official members, around 30 of which have registered for the club’s largest volunteer event of the semester to the Remote Area Medical Clinic in Bradenton, which will take place Oct. 12 and 13.

While volunteering in the community is a big part of MEDLIFE, they also aim to travel to other countries and serve those communities. On Sept. 30, guest speakers from USF MEDLIFE will talk to MEDLIFE UT members about their mobile clinic experiences. After they speak, MEDLIFE UT members will vote on the destination for their first mobile clinic trip during winter break 2017-2018. Their choices are Peru, Ecuador, Tanzania or India.

The MEDLIFE UT organization is open to all students at UT. All that is required is an interest in serving the community and helping others around the world. For more information on MEDLIFE UT, contact Cody Cox at cody.cox@spartans.ut.edu or medlifeut@gmail.com.

Guitar Club is another new addition to UT this year. Started by Chase Corely, a junior international business and finance major, Guitar Club is meant to bring together musicians and music appreciators on campus. According to Corely, being a guitar player has helped him meet new people.

“I make connections everywhere I go because of my appreciation for the guitar,” Corely said. “I was really surprised there wasn’t a guitar club here at UT and thought that this would be a great platform for people who play guitar and want to be exposed to others who play as well.”

The only requirement for membership in Guitar club is a love and appreciation for music and guitar. For information on meeting times and places, contact Corely at chase.corely@spartans.ut.edu.

Spartan League of Speakers is looking for students with a passion for public speaking, as well as anyone interested in improving public speaking skills. Founded by  Juhi Kore, a junior government and world affairs and leadership studies major, this organization’s mission is to help improve public speaking skills and illustrate the importance of public speaking in all fields.

“It will help you be a better leader and a better person,” Kore said.

The Spartan League of Speakers is not the only public speaking club on campus. There is also a speech and debate club at UT, but Kore said it was not what she and her friends were looking for.

So they started their own, with another direction in mind.

The club is open to anyone and everyone at any level of public speaking skill. Members will work on improving public speaking skills with hands-on lessons during meetings, as well as networking through collaboration with other groups. It will meet twice a month, although dates and times will be decided on based on members’ availability.

Once the group gets more traction, Kore plans to take her more experienced public speakers to other organizations on campus to speak with them about the importance of public speech. To learn more, contact Kore at juhi.kore@spartans.ut.edu.

For more information about B.A.P.S. contact n.frederickbryant@spartans.ut.edu.

More information on these clubs and others can be found on the UT website under Student Organizations, or at https://www.ut.edu/studentorgs/.

Rich Taddonio can be reached at rich.taddonio@spartans.ut.edu