It’s an underground movement. No seriously, it is. Just ask any of the 15 members of the West Merrill Scooter Gang.

“We only ride at night, and when we do, it’s to make a lot of noise and have fun,” said Chris Weiland, freshman in pre-architecture and leader of the scooter gang.

The W.M. Scooter Gang was formed during the third week of the semester by freshman students in the third floor of Linden Hall. Interestingly, they are all art and design students.

“It all started with one scooter in the hallway because it was always just laying around and we used it to get from room to room,” Weiland said. “So I told other people to bring their scooters back from home and everything kind of snowballed.”

So FYI talked to the group about their night rides, what gang life is all about, and their rivals.

Interviewed:

Chris Weiland, freshman in pre-architecture

Dan Neubauer, freshman in design

Jacob Marti, freshman in art and design

FYI: Tell me about yourselves.

C.W.: We’re an underground movement. There’s about 15 of us that ride our scooters around at night and yell at people and fight crime. But membership is only open to people who live in Merrill [House] and there’s a pretty hardcore initiation.

FYI: Fight crime?

D.N.: A while ago someone stole my bike and when the gang was out we found it on campus, so we took it back. Really, it’s all about the intimidation factor.

FYI: Your riding seems pretty hardcore, is it tough doing it every night?

J.M.: Not really, the rides are long and rigorous but it spices things up at night and I also do it for the ladies. But really, this whole thing is for fun.

FYI: What challenges have you faced since starting the gang?

D.N.: Scooters have been banned in the hallways, which is bad since we used them to get from room to room. But after that we tried appealing the decision by the decision by making a lot of flyers to raise awareness. It didn’t work.

FYI: So what are you fighting for now?

C.W.: We want to have scooters legalized in the dorm again and also have sanctioned hall races.

FYI: What do other people not involved think of all this?

D.N.: Mostly, they are at a loss for words.

FYI: Most gangs have rivals, do you have any?

C.W.: There aren’t any other scooter gangs around campus but the floor above us is kind of a rival, but they mostly play video games all day.

FYI: What are your plans after break and beyond?

D.N.: Probably fix our scooters and maybe pimp them out. Above all, just ride.