Tea parties and Quidditch

To start a new organization, a group founder or founders must write a mission statement and a constitution outlining their goals as an organization, rules for how meetings run, the choosing of club officers and membership. Along with the founding rules and goals, the potential new club must be able to show an interest among the student body. The group founder or founders must then get 12 signatures from members of each class in the student body. Finally, the group must attend a hearing with the Student Life Committee. With approval, a club becomes official and may ask for a budget from the Budget and Finances Committee. This semester, there are a handful of new organizations, some which have actually been around before. Among the new organizations are:

Quidditch

Last spring, Liz Gottmer '10 saw a YouTube video in which Middlebury College's "Muggle Quidditch Team" was showcased, a real-life, albeit less fantastical version, of the flying-broom sport that Harry Potter plays. She was inspired to bring the same thing to Kenyon and clicked on the link to sign up for the league-the Intercollegiate Quidditch Association. The Ohio State University and Oberlin College also have teams in the League, among the many others nationally and internationally. Unfortunately, Gottmer was too late to apply for organization approval last semester, but she was able to get all the materials ready and was approved as a club this semester. So far, the membership is at 40, of which 12 came to the first meeting. "But if I e-mailed and said we would be out on Ransom Lawn with broomsticks and balls, there would be a huge number to show up," said Gottmer.

At this point, that is all the club is waiting for. Once they have equipment-brooms, flat volleyballs for the quaffles and playground balls for bludgers-they will be set.

"Right now," Gottmer said, "everyone just keeps saying, 'I just want to play.'"

Gables

"There is a huge underground gay community at Kenyon," said the current president of Gables, who preferred to remain anonymous out of respect to the nature of the group. Gables is an organization based on providing a support group and social base for people not ready to come out yet. The group was originally founded around 2001 but eventually petered out and had to be revamped last year.

"We're a reinvigorated organization," the president said.

Gables has around 40 members, of which ten to 25 regularly come to meetings. The group meets about once a week and discusses issues such as what it means to be gay on campus and in society.

"We make more solid identities for ourselves and work on being confident in today's society," the Gables president said.

The organization hopes to foster an environment at Kenyon in which people can be open about being gay, but their agenda is different than that of Unity House or ALSO, whose goal is more about being out there.

"Members of Gables are not ready to be activists," the president said. The focus of Gables is more about making a viable social scene for gays and lesbians, a scene in which sexual orientation is not something one has to ask about.

Paintball Club

The Paintball Club, headed by James Beckett '12, was started two years ago but has become active again this year. The club organizes paintball games on a local farm in Mount Vernon and is able to buy their equipment through school funding. They organize a game about once a month with usually about 15 to 20 interested students. The Paintball Club encourages students who have never played before to join.

Juggling Club

Juggling Club is another club that has been revamped. When Nathan Allen '11, the current club president, came to Kenyon last year, there was no active club, although there had been one the year before. Allen took it upon himself to get the information about the club and ran it last year, only this year finding out that it had been unofficial. This year, the club is official. They meet once a week on Ransom Lawn, but Allen has greater plans. Oberlin has an annual circus parade in which students juggle and unicycle around campus.

"That's something that I think I would like to bring to Kenyon," he says. "Middle Path would be perfect."

Allen also envisions a Juggling Club show, but doubts students' willingness to participate.

"When we're juggling on Ransom Lawn I frequently try to get people involved by throwing a ball at them, but many just seem embarrassed and won't stop. It shocks me that people aren't willing to make fools of themselves. … A personal motto of mine is that, 'Whether you dance or not you're going to look stupid, so you might as well dance.' We'd love to have more people dancing."

Motown Band

Motown Band, headed by Peter Johnson '10, has been revived since many of its members graduated in 2006. Originally called Fruity and the Loops, the band plays at many all-campus parties, the Village Inn and other events such as class dinners and Board of Trustees parties. Motown Band strives to provide the campus with upbeat and danceable live music. They have fun practicing their music once or twice a week, and at this point in the year perform shows about every other week.

Grief and Bereavement Support Group

Though not technically a student organization, the Grief and Bereavement Support Group has been remodeled to include two student facilitators: Kate Gunby '09 and Jenna Peskin '10 are now working alongside Amanda Kennedy, a graduate student from OSU who works through the Counseling Center as part of achieving her Masters in Social Work.

"[Peskin] and I have both taken Psych classes, and we both have been trianed in peer counseling," said Gunby, although neither has formal instruction in counseling.

"The group has been here as long as we have attended Kenyon," said Peskin. "Before Amanda came, it mostly consisted of getting together in a circle ... but it is not a group to get together and just cry. It is a place of identification for people to share a common experience of loss."