What's the deal with the "Recruiting" section?

The "Recruiting" tab leads to:

"Sorry, but only users granted special access can read topics in this forum."

And the "this message" link in the:

This is a private access forum. Read this message for details on requesting access.
Moderators BB&B Administration Team, BB&B Moderation Team

has been a dead link for weeks. If you click on it you get:

phpBB : Critical Error

Could not connect to the database


So I wondering, can anyone tell me, is this a private club? If so, is it possible to gain access?