Campus might be a little happier with the addition of a new club.
Freshman musical theatre major Emily Eagle wanted to bring something new to campus, so she looked online at interesting clubs other universities had. The Happiness Club was the one that sparked her interest.
“It makes me happy when I make other people happy, so I figured that would just be wonderful because I feel that's a mutual feeling for some people,” Eagle said.
Eagle partnered up with senior acting major Kathleen Niemann to form the club.
“I think we’re a good pairing because I’m a senior and know more people and how to get ahold of things, but since [Eagle]'s a freshman, she can take [it] further on and keep it going,” Niemann said.
They held their first meeting two weeks ago with the theme of thankfulness. The goal is to have a specific theme for each meeting.
To begin their first meeting, they planned a dance party with a “happiness” playlist to get the members in the spirit. Everyone then got in a circle and each shared what they were thankful for while Eagle and Niemann read an article on how being thankful can contribute to one’s own happiness. The meeting ended with everyone doing yoga.
“We think it's important that it’s not only what we want it to be but for the people,” Eagle said.
Eagle and Niemann promoted The Happiness Club through their service fraternity, Alpha Psi Omega, and the Student Dance Association. However, they want their members to be a representation of the whole campus.
“We want to do [things] like having a potluck where everyone just comes and brings delicious food and has a good time or going to ARF and playing with some animals,” Niemann said. “We also want to bring in speakers.”
There will be activities at each meeting as well as discussions on inspiring articles. Eagle and Niemann do not want the club to be seen as them lecturing, but want it to be interactive as well.
“I think our main point is that happiness is a choice you can make consciously and actively,” Niemann said. “You have the ability to make yourself happy and spread that to others.”
The Happiness Club is also looking to engage in community outreach activities to spread joy not just within the club, but to those in the community.
“We also define ourselves as a support group because sometimes you do have trouble being happy, and I know I personally struggle with it," Eagle said. "That's part of the reason I wanted to create this club. It's really about spreading happiness as much as we can.”
At the end of each meeting, Eagle and Niemann adopted an idea from the Circle K club called “happy change,” where members put any spare change into a jar and say what makes them happy. Once the jar is full, the money will be donated to Riley Hospital for Children.
“I always want to make an impact in anything I do and anywhere I am," Eagle said. "I feel like one day ... this would be a great way to do that."
The Happiness Club meets every other week. Its next meeting is at 8 p.m. Dec. 9 in the Korsgaard Dance Studio in Ball Gym.
“Happiness is such a universal thing," Eagle said. "It can be anything you want it to be."
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