Watching a favorite series doesn’t always mean staring at the computer screen in a dark room, on the bed next to your pet. Experiencing it with a group makes it more entertaining, especially when Chatham’s General Geekery Club is hosting it. The General Geekery Club is a new club that was founded by Liz Van Fleet, a second year graduate student in the counseling psychology program.

The General Geekery Club is mostly an anime club. Fleet said that though the club is mainly for watching anime, suggestions for video games, comics, series and movies are always welcome. Fleet started the club when she realized that Chatham lacks such clubs that can host fun things for students to watch.

“It’s still kind of getting off the ground. I see after this semester and after spreading the word out [that] we will be more organized and set up and ready to do more with the club,” Fleet said.

The General Geekery Club is also hosting the Chess Club. Neither club is official yet, but Dr. Vadas Gintautas said he expects them to become official once there is a critical mass. Dr. Gintautas, assistant professor of physics at Chatham, has also taken the initiative to open a club for Chatham’s students, this time a chess club. Dr. Gintautas used to play chess a long time ago and thought it would be nice having a presence of chess on campus.

Since the chess club is still growing like the General Geekery club, Dr. Gintautas and Fleet weighed consolidating the two together as a start, so they can get more people interested.

Dr. Gintautas is working on getting students’ attention for chess club, and that’s why chess boards can be seen at the JKM library right by the exit, as well as in Buhl Hall. “In the beginning of the semester we tried to have meetings where people could come and play, but it was not very well-attended because it’s difficult to find a time that works for everybody,”  Dr. Gintautas said. “We had a handful of people who were interested, but you do need a critical mass.”

Dr. Gintautas said that the goal is to sustain a small group of people that will play actively and go to tournaments. He said it’s interest is building slowly in chess and realistically, it’s a tough thing to take on.

Dr. Gintautas has also created a “chess ladder,” an online competition that can be found on moodle. Students can challenge somebody who’s up to two places above them. If they lose, nothing happens, but if they win, they switch places. Anyone who is interested in joining can email Dr. Gintautas or  Fleet.

The General Geekery Club and the chess club meet every Thursday at 7 p.m. in Beckwith located in Buhl Hall. This period is for watching anime and Korean dramas and everyone is invited.
Clarification: An earlier version of this story stated the Chess Club was not yet official. The General Geekery Club is also not yet official. Also, the article stated that Vadas Gintautas was a professor of photography and physics. He is the assistant professor of physics, but also teaches photography.