Rough Drafts
Story 1:
The executive board of a UNLV club graduated and left one man in charge to run it all.
Current Club President, Seth Matteson has big plans for the UNLV Car Club, carrying forward the traditions and values that have melted to the club’s core like oil to a driveway. Left with connections from the old executive board, Matteson has collaborated with car clubs such as Team Tekito, Yakuza Syndicate, and Speed Tribe Sakura for a couple of car meets earlier this season in August. These are just a few events that he has planned out this semester, planning to throw barbecues, club cruises, Fast & Furious movie nights, Halloween Trunk Or Treats, and club dinners, with his ultimate goal of creating a space for car lovers to make lasting connections with one another.
“The whole mission is to integrate students with culture on and off campus,” Matteson said. “Joining the club gives people an opportunity to find friends that like cars and allows them to see things that maybe they’ve never seen before and explore a side of Vegas they’ve never known. Despite the fact that UNLV is very diverse, it’s hard to find friends for some reason. People go to class and dip. The club serves to bring people together and to make friendships that last.”
Earlier this year in March, Matteson and the UNLV Car Club, along with other members of the community such as Dynamic Evolution Auto Club, Mazda Las Vegas, After life Boba, and Car Girls of LV, were a part of a pet food and supply drive for the Henderson Animal Shelter. “Cars N’ Pets” brought the community together to supply the shelter with pet foods, blankets, towels, leashes, dog treats, and more. This event was also a car meet, so furry friends roamed the aisles of cars alongside their owners.
The car scene in Las Vegas is heavily reliant on the community, but that theme is prevalent at UNLV as well. Student involvement and engagement is the backbone to successful club events, and Matteson is aware of that. With his own shifting schedule, he knows communicating with all the members of the club at once can be difficult. However this, and more, is made possible with a tool called Discord.
Some car clubs have walkie-talkies, the UNLV Car Club has Discord. The UNLV Car Club Discord Server is an online hub where members can find upcoming meets, they can vote for future hangouts, and talk all things cars. Recently, Matteson has been chatting with club members about what wheels to get on his 2007 Saturn Ion, in which members have been especially helpful in helping him choose the right ones. Due to members’ limited availability and schedules, Discord serves as it’s own club space for members to get together and chat about anything and everything. Discord allows for text chats, as well as audio and video calls, so the means of collaboration and communication keep the club alive and well.
Although the Car Club has remained somewhat steady in their efforts of recruiting new members, their challenges are keeping their presence known and having enough team members to divert responsibilities. Sunny Gittens, UNLV Executive Director of Student Engagement, said the clubs that have found success are those that students already know about.
“For new student organizations, the key to success is to market your existence on campus, which truthfully can be challenging. When we ask students about involvement and how they got involved, about 50% of the students that are involved tell us they knew they wanted to get involved when they came to campus. They researched all of the options, found something and got involved,” Gittens said. “The other 50% of students that are involved tell us they stumbled upon it; a lot of times they spent their first couple of years going to class and going home. Sometimes those students end up being the most involved leaders. Word of mouth is the biggest thing.”
Currently, Matteson is the only executive board member, and being the President, Social Media Manager, and Event Planner is no easy task. He does not want all of those roles; he does not want all of the power and does not think he should hold it all. He plans to hold elections next semester to bring on that much needed help.
He wants to increase the club’s presence on campus by participating in club fairs and increase tabling activity, perhaps bringing a club car on campus to park next to a club table to recruit more members as well. Sunny Gittens mentioned tabling was a great way for clubs to market themselves, either in the Free Speech Space, or in the Amphitheater.
Future plans for the club align with doing more of what they have been already doing, throwing collaboration meets, private club events/dinners, and possible fundraiser and charity events. The club seeks to bring people together in any capacity, whether it be community members, other car clubs, or UNLV students. Community and involvement are the key to the club’s success, and Matteson seeks to take the club to new heights until he graduates, and even further beyond.
Although the club is under new management, UNLV Alumni are still able to be a part of the club and are welcome to participate in community activities. With 16 currently active members in their roster of 30, the club seeks to increase their numbers and activities for semesters to come. They welcome any make, model, and year of car; they even accept members who don’t have cars. If UNLV students have any interest learning about, talking about, or seeing cars, then the UNLV Car Club is the place for it.
“We wanna do things like charity events that are oriented to help out other people,” Matteson said. “Even if they don’t like cars, they should care because we are willing to help people and want to make a difference. We aren’t here for ourselves and people should care because we care about making the community a better place.”
Story 2:
They love JDM.
They love American Muscle.
They love Kei Trucks.
The UNLV Car Club is looking for members who love all things cars. From coupe to dually, the club is looking to create an environment of friendship and community with a common interest of the automotive industry. From long-time car enthusiasts, and UNLV Alumni, to newcomers, the UNLV Car Club welcomes all to discuss, hangout, and collaborate with members of the community who carry the same passion. They collaborate with Team Tekito, Acura Las Vegas, Speed Tribe Sakura, and more. These are clubs and organizations in town who have similar goals of bringing the community together.
With any club or organization there is a certain stigma of what the cons of such a thing would yield. Jed Basilio, 1965 Ford Mustang Coupe owner and an ex Team Tekito member, believes some car clubs are better for the community than others.
“I wouldn’t change a lot about clubs, it’s just a compatibility thing sometimes. “ Basilio said. “Whenever I go to events with cars, I find myself interacting with more cars then people, unless they’re cool. A lot of people are there to hangout, so going there and enjoying the cars only kind of speaks to that. There are nice people, and there are other personalities that I don’t necessarily get along with. If there was more involvement with the UNLV Car Club with other bigger clubs in the community I think I’d be more interested, but for now I’m just going to focus on school. I’m a student, so for the time being I’m focusing on that and don’t really have time for anything that would take a lot of my time.”
For UNLV students, a common theme lies in going to class and going home right after. In terms of campus life, UNLV does not have the most vibrant experience. The feeling of hesitation for joining clubs is one UNLV students all relate to in some capacity. Not to say that all clubs in the Free Speech section are bad, but every student has experienced receiving a fake dollar bill that they will end up throwing away on there way to class. Although engagement fairs and tabling have proven to be successful, there are a majority of students who don’t get involved because they want to focus on school as much as they can, or just don’t want to get involved at all.
For Basilio, working on his car and driving is a hobby in every sense. His Mustang is his secondary car, so he gets to work on things without the stringent deadline of having to go to work the next day. Therefore, any activity, club, or meet has to revolve around his schedule and whenever he wants to do such activities. He mentioned that some clubs have mandatory events and meets, and for him those kinds of things just don’t align with his schedule most of the time. As a Biology major, wanting to become a doctor in the future, he’s trying to be as efficient with his time, while maintaining the fun of owning a cool car.
The point of car clubs is to get people together who have that common interest. They used to be, and still are to some capacity, pretty exclusive and limited in their member selection. To this day, there are clubs who try to recreate their favorite era’s of other vehicle clubs. Specifically in Vegas, Team Honda has a roster comprised primarily of Honda vehicles, serving as a beacon for all Honda owners who want to get together and go to meets with other fellow Hondas. The variety of cars range from 1990’s Integras to newer 2010’s-2020’s model Civic Hatchbacks.
During the 90’s in Japan where JDM cars reigned supreme, Touge (Mountain) Racers all had similar cars and shared this common interest. In America, where the market is extremely mixed, there are clubs now who even have Prius’ and Mustangs rubbing shoulders with one another. This tale is certainly true for the UNLV Car Club, as their members and cars are widely mixed.
First-time UNLV Car Club member and 2019 Hyundai Veloster owner, Gabriel Esguerra, shines light on the first-time experience, specifically in the UNLV Car Club.
First-time UNLV Car Club member and 2019 Hyundai Veloster owner, Gabriel Esguerra, shines light on the first-time experience, specifically in the UNLV Car Club.
“I joined the club a couple weeks into the semester and have enjoyed the experience so far,” Esguerra said. “The community is nice and they’re pretty active on the Discord server and Instagram group chat. I guess I would say the biggest con is that my phone gets blown up, but that’s not really a con. I’ve been pretty busy and I work full-time, so I’ve only been to one Yard House dinner that the club did. But overall, the club members that were there were really nice. The car community in general can be pretty toxic, and there are memes and jokes out there that are funnier than others. A funny stereotype I get about my car is that KDM (Korean Domestic Market) owners all listen to K-Pop, even though my plate says K-Pop it isn’t necessarily true. In general, people who are into cars are usually pretty cool.”
Esguerra has been a part of the car community in Las Vegas since Covid started in 2020. He joined a car crew back then and loved the opportunity to meet interesting people with cool cars. At first, he just wanted to be alone, but now he loves being a part of the community and exploring the variety Las Vegas has to offer.
However, the car community in Las Vegas is not perfect, and he would change how Tribal the clubs tend to get. Cliques such as JDM and Domestic (American) tend to stick to each other, and he doesn’t want to see that. There was an experience he had where the advertised meet was supposed to be JDM only. A C8 Corvette pulled up to the meet and wanted to park near the other cars. They were there to enjoy the meet as well and did not want to get in the way at all, but they were asked to leave. Esguerra stated these sorts of things are very uncommon in Vegas, but he’s seen different examples on YouTube of this sort of thing happening elsewhere. Las Vegas’ car community is small, but it connects to car communities worldwide as car people are car people, no matter what engine, body type, or market they’re in.
“Just join a club, it’s fun,” Basilio said. “Some will like it, others won’t, but above all it’s fun.”
