Collegiate Association of Table Top Gamers

The Collegiate Association of Table Top Gamers (CATTG), is an international college-student run organization for table top gaming clubs at universities whose interests span (but are not limited to) paper and pencil RPG's, collectible card games, and board games of all shapes and sizes. There are currently fifteen official chapters, all of which run themselves individually, but collaborate to keep the network strong. All activities are done in a non-profit manner, and the organization affiliates its activities and goals with other non-profit organizations such as the Ronald McDonald House, Toys for Tots

Toys for Tots

Toys for Tots is a program run by the United States Marine Corps Reserve which donates toys to children whose parents cannot afford to buy them gifts for Christmas. The program was founded in 1947 by reservist Major William L...

, and various other philanthropic programs and events such as cancer walks.

Representatives from each university plan trips, conventions, and other events and members from the clubs are universally receptive to other gamers from other universities due to the foundation of a network based on the common interest of gaming. Companies are also welcome and have showcased products at club meetings.

The organization, founded by J.C. Clare and Tom Elliott, started as an individual club at Fort Hays State University

Fort Hays State University

Fort Hays State University is a public, co-educational university located in Hays, Kansas, United States. It is the fourth-largest of the six state universities governed by the Kansas Board of Regents, with an enrollment of approximately 11,200 students .- History :FHSU was founded in 1902 as the...

, Kansas

Kansas

Kansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...

when it was approved by the Student Government Association there on November 21, 2003. In 2005, current Executive Director Mike Roselli (NCSU) contacted former President Logan Bonner (FHSU) and after a series of meetings, a new CATTG Chapter was ready to be instituted. On February 9, 2006, the organization grew to a national level when the second CATTG chapter was founded at North Carolina State University

North Carolina State University

North Carolina State University at Raleigh is a public, coeducational, extensive research university located in Raleigh, North Carolina, United States. Commonly known as NC State, the university is part of the University of North Carolina system and is a land, sea, and space grant institution...

.

As of 2009, the organization has grown to thirteen chapters, spreading to colleges all over the United States. With a goal to encourage and facilitate the creation and survival of table top gaming clubs and the values of "Integrity, Respect, Growth, Fun, and Charity", the organization has received much notoriety in the college gaming demographic, with numerous online articles written about the organization and its clubs.

Requirements

There are no financial requirements at this time. All university gaming clubs are eligible to join, provided they are a registered club at their school and they have a constitution. One of the club's primary interests must be table top games, though they are encouraged to include other interests as they see fit.

Each club must have a Board Member, to provide equal representation for the organization. This position is defaulted to the club president, however, he or she may appoint someone else for the task. The Board Member votes to decide organization matters. All other operatations are run on a chapter-by-chapter basis. While one chapter can look to another for assistance, each club is its own, independent organization that uses CATTG as a college-gaming networking tool, and can remove itself from it at any time.

For more information on requirements, prospective chapters are invited to read the document Becoming a Chapter.

Benefits

The organization provides opportunities for experiences in non-profit leadership and philanthropy that can easily be added to any resume, including those that will be sent out in job applications when students graduate from college.

The following is a list of resources that the Board of Directors has put together over the years for its chapters, should they wish them:

A sub domain that corresponds to your school
A cattg.org email address with six gigs of space.
Access to CATTG-Google linked services through its Google Apps account.
Forums, both public and private.
Free materials from sponsors when available.
Communication and assistance from our other clubs.
The opportunity to be part of a larger gaming community.

Programs

CATTG runs a few programs nationally. One of these is the Scholarship Program, which makes an effort to link student gamers with potential scholarships relating to table top games.

The Philanthropy Program is an effort to contribute to the gaming community by encouraging the chapters to create and work on philanthropic projects in the field of table top gaming. These activities are rewarded by help from our sponsors. Activities can be created by chapters, submitted by sponsors, or requested by charities and causes. Each activity is measured in man-hours or dollars-donated. An up to date list of statistics for this program is available on the website.

In support of the Philanthropy and Scholarship Programs, the Sponsor Program was born. Through this program, CATTG wishes to network with companies in the field of gaming, keep good communications with these companies to share information about the organization and the programs, and gain chapters materials for their contributions through the Philanthropy Program.

Events

There is a CATTG-Con in the works. Chapters are currently putting the logistics together for this event. The current plan sets the event date circa May, 2010.

Colleges

Chapter #001: Fort Hays State University
Chapter #002: North Carolina State University
Chapter #003: Georgia Institute of Technology
Chapter #004: University of Washington
Chapter #005: Kansas University
Chapter #006: Western Kentucky University
Chapter #007: Montclair State University
Chapter #008: Hofstra University
Chapter #009: Clemson University
Chapter #010: Plymouth State University
Chapter #011: Washburn University
Chapter #012: University of Wisconsin, Green Bay
Chapter #013: University of Chicago

In The Press

The organization has been mentioned in numerous online sources. The following are articles pertaining to the organization, in order of printing.

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.