New organizations often experience growing periods while they try to find their feet. Tigers for Tigers is looking to speed that process up as much as possible as it enters its second year on campus.

The group, which is dedicated to raising awareness of the fact that tigers are quickly becoming extinct, is part of a national organization made up of schools with the tiger for a mascot. Tigers are officially an endangered species, and senior Alyssa Fink,  president of the Trinity chapter, notes that they seem to be rapidly approaching extinction.

“Tigers will go extinct if we do not do something about it. One crazy tiger fact I love to throw out is that there are more in captivity in Texas than there are left in the wild,” Fink said.

Tigers for Tigers plans to expand more this year after spending its first year handling the logistics of becoming an organization.

Junior Tito Sandigo is confident that their message will attract more students as it did him.

“Once I found out more, after reading some pamphlets from our national coordinator, I was astounded that there’s so few in the wild right now. I didn’t know that they were so endangered,” Sandigo said. “I didn’t know that white tigers are not a good thing because they’re inbred.”

The group has spent much of its time devising ways to make its message known on campus, which its members say they know will attract more students. Fink noted that several events are planned for the year, and the group hopes to use these events to grow the organization.

“We’re hopefully going to have some really fun events, and they will hopefully include tiger pumpkin painting where you can paint a pumpkin to look like a tiger. Part of our coalition with the national organization is Tiger Week where November 10th-15th we’re going to have an event every day,” Fink said.

According to the Tigers for Tigers National Coalition’s official website, over 50 schools around the nation have tiger mascots. Currently, 14 schools have a chapter on their campus, and Trinity is a recent addition. The national coalition aims to to bring the students at these schools together to improve the tigers’ current situation.