Marjorie Rogers/The Hofstra Chronicle
In light of the pandemic and various COVID-19 policies and procedures, Hofstra students have found a way to enjoy their time on campus through their mutual love or hate of squirrels.
The Squirrel Hate Club (SHC) was created early February of this year and, more recently, the Squirrel Love Club (SLC) came into fruition on Sept. 15, sparking a bit of a rivalry.
“There definitely is some aggression [between the two clubs], but overall, we work together at the same time just to get people involved and make sure people are enjoying [Hofstra’s] campus,” said Marie Lemay, a freshman forensic science major and co-founder of SLC.
Both clubs are very similar in nature, with the biggest difference being their message, according to Dominic Galiotto, a junior drama major and self-proclaimed “tyrant, overlord, president and founder” of SHC.
“I’m in both group chats, and at their core, they are basically the same club,” said Gallioto. “Members post the same stuff, pictures of squirrels, comments about the picture and then a reply from the leader. It’s just that the message is a little different.”
When SLC surfaced, it seemed like an all-out war was about to break, but surprisingly the two groups joined forces.
“We are trying to turn [the rivalry] into fun things or events,” said Maria Yniguez, a freshman film major and co-founder of SLC. “We don’t want to pit the clubs. Actually, we might want to pit the clubs against each other, but all in good fun.”
A squirrel scavenger hunt was conducted on Monday, Sept. 27 for both SHC and SLC, where competitors followed squirrel-related clues and won free merchandise.
“Because we combined both clubs together, a lot more people [attended] and the best part is they didn’t know which club was which,” Galiotto said. “SLC and SHC people were working together by accident, and they didn’t even know that they were from opposing clubs.”
Although the clubs are not Hofstra affiliated, they are well known on campus. The Hofstra Chronicle conducted a survey of 58 people, and about 63.7% knew of at least one club or both and 36.2% heard of neither.
SHC and SLC were both created for a good laugh, but you might ask yourself, “Why do they hate or love squirrels so much? Does Dominic have some strange backstory with squirrels?”
“I change my story every time,” Galiotto said. “So I was driving one day in my hometown and in Pittsburgh you can turn right on red. I turned in and this squirrel accelerated toward me and bumped right into me while I was turning right. I got out of my car and was like ‘dude, really?’ and he said ‘I’m really sorry man, I’ve got to go to work.’ He didn’t even get out of his car, he was just leaning out of his window and before I could even get his insurance information or catch his plates, he just bolted. Ever since then I have hated them.”
Other humorous reasons why he says he hates squirrels include being mugged, held at gunpoint and tricked by them.
“I like to tell people that in the Garden of Eden, it was a squirrel, not a snake that tempted Adam and Eve,” said Galiotto.
On the other hand, SLC wants to spread their message of love for squirrels.
“Love the Hofstra squirrels, they’re just here to support us,” Yniguez said. “They’re so cute, they’re everywhere and if they steal your food, they deserve it more. They’re hungry.”
The rivalry between the two groups is all in good fun, and at the end of the day, they all appreciate each other and respect what they individually stand for.
“[SLC isn’t] a group dedicated to the opposition of SHC, it’s a group dedicated to the opposition of what my club [stands] for, which is its own thing,” Galiotto said. “When I met the group leader [of SLC], I was like ‘you’re awesome, let’s do some co-events’ and we help each other out all the time and it’s great.”
