New club on campus welcomes car lovers
By Asia McGill
Beginning as a conversation about cars during a marketing class, lecturer Beverly Braddock proposed the idea to her students to form a car club. The students were interested, and after they followed Student Government Association (SGA) approval processes and wrote their bylaws, the Rider Street Club was born, holding their first meeting on Sept. 30.
“I am so proud of them for starting this Rider Street Club, they put in a lot of time… and now they’re having their first club meeting,” Braddock said.
Rider Street Club is the first car meet club on campus, and is a way for student car enthusiasts to gather and exhibit their unique vehicles.
The club’s first meeting kicked off as members pulled up to the parking lot behind Ben Cohen Field, with an echo of revved engines trailing behind. Each vehicle parked in a uniform line, creating an aesthetically pleasing view of all the different foreign cars.
“I like seeing all my fellow car people gather up and have a good time. Cars are a way of life… they give us a lot of enjoyment and relieve a lot of stress. I think sharing that with people, sharing your car, your car experiences, it really means a lot to people,” said freshman finance major Jake Mitchell.
Junior supply chain management major Branden Dhurpat stands as the club’s president, and has many plans for the organization’s future.
“Some of my plans are to see the car club grow, and have cruises and events. I do want to have contests with other schools, I think that would be really cool… like Rutgers vs. Rider,” Dhurpat said.
As car meets naturally occur outdoors, Dhurpat has implemented indoor classroom meetings for when the weather drops in the upcoming winter season. He plans to switch gears to the educational side of cars, by bringing in mechanics and detailers to teach members basic car care.
Many members of the club expressed how much time and effort they spent accessorizing their cars, tweaking different parts to their liking. Junior accounting major Taylor Tomko owns a car wrapping business named Element, and learned to wrap with just a few friends and videos from YouTube.
Car wrapping is the method of wrapping the exterior body of a car with vinyl decal. Wraps can differentiate by color, texture, and style of finish. “I kind of just learned as I went, as I progressed I got better at it… it was definitely a monotonous task,” Tomko said.
All members bring their car expertise to the club, including junior cybersecurity major Matthew Kovacs, who picked up the skill of installing colorful LED lights to headlights. Kovacs owns a 2011 Chevrolet Camaro, his dream car that he nicknamed “The Ripper.”
“I’ve always grown up with cars around me, and ever since I was younger I wanted a car I could make my own,” Kovacs said.
At the end of the meeting, members gathered for a group picture, and shared their ideas for their next meet. Information on the club’s upcoming events can be found on the Bronc Nation website under “Rider Street Club.”
Adrienne Unfreed is a member of Rider Street Club and Design Manager for The Rider News. Unfreed did not have any part in the writing or editing of this story.
