A game of UNO cycles through thrills, frustration, and cutthroat competition. Friends turn against friends to get ahead. One bad draw can send the frontrunner to last place.
But it really is all fun and games for one of UNC Greensboro’s most popular student clubs. Like a deck stuffed with “Pick 4” cards, The UNO Club constantly draws people in. Co-founder America Lopez-Montoya was blown away by the enthusiasm.
“It just exploded,” she says. “We weren’t expecting so many people to come in.”
Stack the Deck
Lopez-Montoya started The UNO Club with her friend Mauricio Villatoro-Blanco in 2021. Since campus was still under COVID-19 restrictions, they invited friends to play over Zoom. “It was just a handful of us on computers, trying to play and trash talk, while Zoom was glitching a lot,” she recalls.
Once they could gather in person, they began reserving rooms around campus. It took off in 2022, once they signed up for a table to promote themselves at the annual Fall Kickoff.
“Our first meeting after that, I think we had 80 people and not enough seats,” she says.
At any given meeting of the club, multiple games go on at once. A winner gets a prize at the end of each night. They also hold themed games. “We have so many different types of games. I’ve learned so many different rules,” says human health sciences major Charlize Portlock, The UNO Club co-president. “We played the ‘Barbie’-themed UNO. It has one card called ‘Weird Barbie.’ Whoever puts the card down says a color, and everyone else puts down a card that color.”
“One week we did a ‘Twilight’ theme,” says Michael Linares, a mathematics major and club treasurer. “And we watched the second movie in the ‘Twilight’ series. We’ve planned a ‘glow in the dark’ meet, where we make the room as dark as possible and bring a bunch stuff that glows in the dark while we play.”
Lopez-Montoya says they’ve accumulated enough decks to fill two shopping bags. “People are always recommending new things,” she says. “They’re like, ‘We should get UNO Flip. We should get ‘Minecraft’-themed UNO.'”
All Fun and Games
The club has its share of regulars and casual drop-ins. Sometimes, they partner with another club that wants to hold their own UNO night. “You can just come to the club and play with your friends, or you can meet new people,” says Linares.
But even with its popularity, sometimes students raise their eyebrows when they first learn it exists. It’s not unusual, Lopez-Montoya says, for students to walk right past their information table and then double back. “My pitch is usually, ‘Hi, we’re the UNO club. All we do is play UNO,’ and then they usually start laughing. Then I say, ‘We meet at this time. We’d love to see you there.'”
“I’ll tell people that I’m a part of the e-board for a club,” says Portlock. “They’re like, ‘Oh, cool. What club?’ I go, ‘UNO,’ and they’re like, ‘What? Why does UNO need a secretary?'”
At The UNO Club, fun is the priority. The game’s reputation is built upon twists, turns (and reverses), and swift changes of fortune. So long as everyone is onboard, the club allows ribbing among players and even a little trash talk. But if that jocularity ever turns negative, the leaders can step in and remind people not to take it too seriously.
“Our main mission is to come in and make friends in a safe environment,” says Lopez-Montoya.
Taking it to the Street
A service project also boosts the group’s positivity. If you drive past campus along Spring Garden Street, you might notice an “Adopt a Street” sign with The UNO Club’s name.
“It seemed a really manageable project for a club,” says Lopez-Montoya. “We made a contract with the city, and we go out twice a semester or more, and clean up Spring Garden from the MHRA building to the Nathanael Greene statue downtown.”
Portlock agrees, “It’s really cool that we still have community service opportunities like that, that people might not expect.”
They hope this spirit of fun and positivity keeps it thriving for years. Lopez-Montoya will graduate this spring. “We have people tell us we’re an unserious club,” she says. “A lot of our clubs are about adding to your résumé, getting volunteer hours, and becoming a well-rounded student. We’re here just to help students relax and forget their stress.”
Follow the club Instagram page for a schedule of games.
Story by Janet Imrick, University Communications
Photography by Sean Norona, University Communications
