LCC Vinyl Record Club spins the hits

By Sophia Potter
Staff Writer

There is a good chance that if you have attended an event around campus in the last few years, you have interacted with the Vinyl Record Club at LCC.

Established in 2021, the club has spun records at RSO  fundraisers, resources fairs, and even at the StarScapes showcases in the past.

“Promoting LCC as a place where everyone can find a place to belong is the central tentpole of our club,” said Sarah Eubanks, former president and current co-adviser of the Vinyl Record Club.

“What better way is there to do that than to literally plug in and amplify a variety of music, picked out by our students?”

According to Club Secretary Simon Medina, the Vinyl Record Club is “just as much about building community as it is about the music itself.”

Since the beginning of the club, community and the ways music can enhance it have been core to the Vinyl Record Club. Its mission statement concludes with the line, “I strongly believe each of us are responsible to help create the kind of the world we want to live in, and the world I want to live in includes music and community.”

The club members’ commitment to this responsibility is evident not only in their active involvement around campus, but in the way the club is governed.

“A culture of togetherness is what we love about the VRC,” remarked Eubanks. “While only student members govern the club and vote, all are welcome to come hang out with us. The VRC is made up of students, faculty, staff and even alumni community members.”

Simon Medina (left) and Tyler Reck show off the VRC Crash Cart at the RSO fair on Halloween 2023.  Photo courtesy of Sarah Eubanks

Student and staff members have poured countless hours into projects to help foster this sense of community. A perfect example is the Spotify playlists that Medina has been creating since 2022 to help document the music played at club meetings.

“I felt that I would want to remember some of the song choices people brought in,” Medina said, “and that making a proper Spotify playlist for me, and other people to listen back on in the future, would be more helpful than just writing a list for an email reminder.”

In Medina’s eyes, these playlists benefit active members as well as serving as a talking point for those who have never been to a meeting.

“It gives people who weren’t able to attend meetings a chance to hear what was played there,” Medina said. “It also gives people a chance to share the variety of music that gets played at meetings with people who are interested in joining.”

Last year Eubanks also created a tradition that will surely create a lasting sense of community among members of the Vinyl Record Club: the High Fidelity Award. Medina was the very first recipient.

“Winning the award was a great honor for me, Medina said. “I am immensely proud of what I’ve done to help the VRC grow so it was really great to have something to commemorate that.”

The Vinyl Record Club will be hosting three “rare, jumbo-sized, summer-time, funner-time sessions.” They are: Thursday, June 20, Thursday, July 11, and Thursday, Aug. 15. All meetings take place in the Adult Resource Center (Gannon Building 2302) from 5 to 7 p.m.

These summer sessions differ from traditional meetings in that there is no official business handled, and the meetings are double the length to accommodate  for only taking place once a month.

June 20 will be a particularly fun meeting, as the group will be attempting its first-ever Album Deep Dive. According to Eubanks, “rather than taking turns playing tracks like we normally do, we’re going to randomly select an album and listen to the whole thing all the way through.”

To learn more about the Vinyl Record Club and sign up for the email list, visit lccvrc.openlcc.net.