By: Liam Cooney | Public Relations Coordinator
For an institution of only 2,500 undergraduate students, Salve Regina’s campus is known for its many clubs and student-run organizations. Clubs such as Pitches With Attitude, the 545 club, Stagefright, Black Student Union, the Willow Literary Magazine, and countless others better the extracurricular opportunities for Salve students. Oh, and who could forget about the Mosaic Student Newspaper!
Recently, another new and exciting club has begun on our campus. This club, which once had a presence on Salve’s campus, is making its long-awaited return. The Salve Regina film club, founded by senior Shunsuke Higuchi and faculty advised by Dr. D. Matthew Ramsey, is back with a new lifeline.
At first, I had a bit of an epiphany when I realized that until Shunsuke’s leap of faith in starting this club, Salve’s campus has lacked a film club for some time. For a school and campus environment that prides itself on the arts and a cohesive liberal arts education, this type of extracurricular life has been missing since the COVID-19 era.
I had the opportunity to speak with Dr. D. Matthew Ramsey, Professor of English, Communications, and Media here at Salve. Dr. Ramsey told me the history of what once was “Salve Studios,” which originated in 2014 and served as Salve’s film and cinematography club on campus. While having a following for several years, the club lost traction during the pandemic, eventually losing club status in 2022. Shunsuke now brings back to our campus what was lost a few years ago, with the support and advisership of Dr. Ramsey and the Salve community.
An international student from Tokyo, Japan, and a member of the Salve Regina men’s tennis team, Shun is an impressive individual who has career ambitions in the film industry. A current senior majoring in Communication with a minor in Film, Shun hinted to me his goal of attending grad school for film to venture further into his passion. An avid fan of Good Will Hunting, Shun told me that starting this club was personal to him. He explained, “The reason I started the film club was that I wanted to create a community for people to interact in person.”
Shun admitted that he is not a social media fan and wanted the human experience of connecting through film. In addition to pure passion, Shun also informed me of his courageous objective: he wants to be more of a leader in his own life. With a club that he will use to create community and campus impact, he is well on his way.
That same sense of community and purpose was expressed to me in my conversation with Dr. Ramsey. “I believe that film is a very important part of culture and college life and that students get a great deal out of studying, analyzing, and making films,” he said. “It’s a great way to hone critical thinking skills, explore art, and even to help shape and develop empathy,”
On the walls of his office lays an applicable quote that Ramsey seems to live by: Film matters because art matters.
Salve’s film club is open to students from all levels of cinematography, film, and artistic backgrounds. The club meets each Thursday at 7:00 PM with a format that is similar to a book club for film lovers.
“All are more than welcome to feel free to join us,” Shun said. “Anyone who loves movies and would enjoy the opportunity to talk to people.”
So, if you are a film fan, looking to better express your opinions through the arts, looking to make some new friends and/or venture out into joining a new club yourself, look no further than Salve Regina’s new film club!
Photos provided by Salve Regina University and SRFC.
