After a year and a half of no in-person learning, many students were eager to get back into the swing of clubs. 

With this, there have been multiple new club additions including, Latin Leadership, the Young Republicans, the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, and the Celebrating Diversity club. Many of these clubs have the same goal of giving students a place to belong. 

“Young Democrats Club party exists and I feel like it was necessary to start another one because I know that that group is here and Piper too,” said senior and founder of the Young Republicans Club Braydon Vinson “There’s a community of those people as well. I felt that they needed to be represented, and I want to give them a voice.”

The Young Republicans club has started off strong with around 40 members according toVinson. One of his goals is to get students out and voting. 

“I’m very passionate about this kind of stuff, and I just want to help other people,” Vinson said. “One of my goals with this is to get people out to vote. I think that’s very important. And I feel like this would help a lot with that.”

The first Young Republicans meeting will take place on Sept. 30, 2021.  

Similar to the Young Republicans Club, the Latinx Leadership Club is hoping to make a place for students to feel seen and have a community. “The Latinx leadership is a club that strives to build community leaders, provide a safe space for students, and to provide an environment where students can learn from one another, and just have fun,” said junior and founder of the Latinx Club Annalia Escalante.

Latinx Leadership club helps students get the chance to celebrate their culture with each other, along with providing service opportunities. 

“We’re also trying to get some service opportunities lined up so we can go work with other LatinX organizations in Kansas City,” Escalante said. “Wee kind of want this club to grow, but we have to take it one step at a time, especially since it is our first year, and we’re in Covid.”

According to Escalante, the club has around 30 members  and she hopes the club keeps growing after she graduates. 

A consistent theme within the new implemented clubs has been creating a safe space for students. 

“The main message I hope to spread to students is, to step out of your comfort zone, and have an open mind because just because you think students are ‘different’, doesn’t mean you should judge them,” said junior and founder of the Diversity Club Tatum Vallejo. 

Vallejo said she helped found the club because she wants students to learn from each other and have a safe space to talk. She also says they have about 60 members and is very happy with the turnout. 

The Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) is also about giving students a place where they belong, but is more faith based. The main focus is to provide people with a place to celebrate their faith and grow with each other. 

“Our major goal is to just merely spread the gospel. We’re not worried about numbers, you know, I just want to spread the gospel to as many people as possible,” said senior Gavin Church when asked about his goals for the clubs. 

He says he hopes to have a leader or branch of FCA on each sports team. He also says how happy it makes him to see students benefiting from his club. 

“As someone who just never heard it all, you know, and then they just have this sort of zeal and it’s awesome to see,” Church said.