Two Student Clubs Holding Online Meetings
The current climate of social distancing hasn't stopped two Thomas Nelson clubs, including one that's burgeoning, from holding meetings. The meetings are online, and they do more than expose students to a new activity or experience. They help participants cope in these uncertain times.
"I'm really happy that we were able to keep this up just so we have the ability to engage with students. I think that's really important during quarantine," said Foster Beech, a freshman from Williamsburg who is involved in the American Sign Language club and the poetry club. "It's good for everyone."
The ASL club was formed in the fall at the Historic Triangle campus and added meetings at the Hampton campus this semester. The poetry club, according to adviser Robert Harrison, is completing paperwork to make it an official Thomas Nelson organization.
"That should be turned in within a week's time, and then we'll be official official," said Harrison, the Distance Learning and eCampus librarian at the Hampton campus. "But we've already been meeting."
Harrison, along with English professors Janice Hoffman and Tom Rockson, had been trying to form a poetry club for several years. They currently hold monthly open-mic coffeehouse gatherings at each campus, and despite good attendance, a poetry club never got off the ground. That was until Beech met Harrison at one of the events.
"She really took the bull by the horns, and has really done a great job getting all the paperwork done," Harrison said. "We've met several times via the Zoom software that the College offers. It's really taken off."
Beech, president of the ASL club and interim president of the poetry club, was glad to help.
"There had been some interest but nobody really put all the pieces together," she said. "I just like the idea of a poetry club. I thought it'd be really cool to see them start up so I decided to help."
Harrison said one reason a poetry club never got going was because it was difficult to find a convenient time to meet. Meetings online, where you can join via a laptop or phone, seem to have been a benefit.
"It actually enables us to play around with the times we can get together," he said, noting people have checked in on their phone while out shopping, in their car or in their living room. "It actually increases attendance, I think."
And he said the online meetings have the feel of in-person ones.
"It's pretty much the same thing. The only thing is there's an electronic component involved," Harrison said. "But we're still there. It's the same happy, friendship-building conversations that we've always had. It doesn't stifle anyone's creativity or our ability to get together and get things done."
Beech said there were a few things to work out in having the ASL club online: learning the best way to find out who's talking, trying to get the attention of a specific person. But since the club does have mostly hearing students, they do have a lot of voice conversations. She did cite a time when the club's vice president (Joshua Findley) was having a conversation with one of the deaf members.
"(They) would get into really long sign conversations, and then you couldn't get either of their attention," Beech said. "For a lot of the hearing students, the ASL went over their heads. It was hilarious."
She, too, said the online meetings are similar to the in-person ones, with them ending with about 30 minutes of review or fun activities.
Beech said she's glad she's able to give students a way to engage with one another until they are able to meet again in person.
"I think positive social support is really important," Beech said.
For more information about the poetry club, which meets at 11 a.m. the first and third Friday of each month, contact tnccpoetryclub@gmail.com. The ASL club, which has Facebook and Instagram accounts, meets 2-3 p.m. every Tuesday and Thursday.
Kadisia Archer, coordinator of Student Life and Leadership, said she wasn't aware of any of the other 20 or so clubs at Thomas Nelson that are holding meetings. She noted the National Society of Leadership and Success has online development activities, and Phi Theta Kappa members are working online to complete chapter requirements.
"At this point, there are no specific guidelines except the official club meetings should always include the advisers," she said.
She noted the minutes or a summary of the meeting should be sent to her or Michelle Hanson-Hart for the club's files.