There more than 900 registered student organizations (RSOs) exist to cater to the many interests that exist on campus.

The Club That Must Not Be Named

The Club That Must Not Be Named, an RSO for Harry Potter fans at the University, began in fall 2008, but it already has over 200 members, said Hannah Weiss, sophomore in LAS and president of the club.

Weiss said she is an avid Harry Potter fan, so she looked for a club on Quad Day her freshman year and found it.

“I assumed there would be a Harry Potter club,” Weiss said. “If there wasn’t one, I would have started it.”

The club’s first-year activities included a Quidditch tournament on the Quad and trivia night. Members also made chocolate-covered pretzel wands at one of their gatherings, she said.

Weiss said new members can just show up to the meetings or look for the club on Quad Day 2009.

“We’re looking for new members,” she added. “I hope to keep the club going.”

Falling Illini Skydiving Club

The Falling Illini Skydiving Club has been an official RSO since the mid-nineties, but it has been a part of the campus community long before that, said Mike Murphy, junior in LAS and club president.

While the organization did not exist in its present form until about two decades later, students joined together in the seventies to go skydiving. While they had plans for a club, it was not officially formed as a registered student organization until later, Murphy said.

The club consists of 5-10 licensed members, but about 250-300 first-time jumpers skydive with the group each semester, he said.

The biggest recruiting day is Quad Day, when the RSO receives about 1,700 e-mail addresses. The club usually skydives every weekend when the weather permits, so they send an e-mail inviting everyone who signed up on Quad Day to join them, Murphy said.

“College is the best time to come out and try it,” he said. “It’s a great opportunity. There’s plenty of room every weekend.”

Harassing Illini

The Harassing Illini has been seen and heard at University hockey games since 2000 or 2001, said Kevin Fik, senior in Business and RSO president.

The group provides standard cheers at all hockey games and has special officers in charge of researching the other team. These officers use social networking tools, such as Facebook and MySpace, to find material for cheers that target members on the opposing team, he said.

The group has 5-10 regular members, but many more contribute to the experience during games.

“People show up when they feel like it,” Fik said. “We just want to have fun.”

The club does the majority of its recruiting on Quad Day. However, when members are not going to games or promoting the hockey team, they are busy recruiting, he said.

“It’s incredibly fun even if you don’t like hockey,” Fik added. “Everyone seems to have a good time.”