This year, I am in the process of starting a VOX club on campus. As I mentioned last week, VOX is an affilate of Planned Parenthood and will soon be a club that focuses on feminist issues, amongst others.
When starting a club on campus, especially an activist club, it is very helpful to branch outside of your own campus community. Doing this allows you to meet new people who share similar interests as you, as well as learn about what other schools in the area are doing.
Ever since I started trying to establish VOX on West Chester’s campus, I have been able to branch out and speak to a couple feminist organizations in the area.
One of the organizations I spoke to is the Feminist Collective on Temple University’s campus. From speaking to them, I have learned about how their club dynamics work. As a club, it is important to have consistency throughout your meetings. The Feminist Collective have weekly meetings that consist of thought provoking discussions to further educate themselves and their community.
Another club that I have spoken to is Lucy/VOX on Rowan University’s campus. This club, like VOX, is a Planned Parenthood affiliate group.
From them, I learned the importance of the student body voice. From my impression of this group, I feel as if they truly have the best interest for their students and really want to make their campus community a safer environment for all.
By talking to people in these clubs, I have learned what types of programs and fundraiser worked for their clubs in the past. This is important to me because since VOX is a forming club, speaking to other clubs gives me ideas on discussion topics, fundraising ideas, and even innovative tabling ideas.
So far, another helpful resource has been VOX’s affiliate Planned Parenthood South Eastern Pennsylvania. Without them, VOX would not be possible.
If your club has an affiliate, I strongly recommend starting a bond with them and/ or your grassroots organizer. To do this, it’s as simple as going to their events. I found this to be beneficial because you actually can learn a lot in the process; plus you get to meet a lot of new people and experience networking opportunities.
So far, I have helped Planned Parenthood table, and educate people about the HIV/ AIDS services that they provide to the community. This allows you to learn more about what your affiliate has to offer to the community and to your club.
Working and using these resources may be able to help create innovative fundraisers and spark interesting discussions within your club.
Stephanie Frasca is a fourth-year student majoring in communication sciences and disorders with minors in psychology and linguistics. SF767711@wcupa.edu