With the beginning of the 2024-25 school year, BYU's Student Service Association provides opportunities for students to build new clubs and new communities on campus.
The first few weeks of the new semester multiple clubs began organizing their first meetings. Included among them are two new clubs: a gardening club and a new Lego club.
Julia Pun, president and 'master builder' of the Lego club, started the club a few months ago with the help of friends and advisors.
Pun started by polling people and asking if there was a need on campus that could be met by something like the Lego club.
“Me and my best friend Maile decided to start the Lego Club because we thought it would be a good place for students to come,” Pun said.
The two friends began the process by meeting with BYUSA clubs coordinator Robyn Damon.
Damon explained that when people come to meet with her, she makes sure that a similar club does not already exist on campus. She also ensures that there would be people interested in joining a new club.
To help guarantee interest and success, BYUSA recently created a new policy that requires a president to have two officers in order to start a club.
“It is required because what we have found is when people have started a club, all by themselves, it's very daunting,” Damon said, referencing the new policy. “It just makes the club work because it's stronger out of the gate, and then it also helps continue on as a successful club moving forward.”
The process also involves filling out an online application, creating a charter for the club and fleshing out the rules and building blocks of the club.
“We’re very student driven, which means the students get to choose their purpose and their activities and everything that they’re doing,” Damon said.
Damon further explained that BYUSA had 21 new or reactivated clubs last year over the course of 12 months.
Ezra Leauanae, BYUSA vice president of clubs, explained why he thinks student involvement in clubs is important.
“Clubs at its purest form are a community for students to meet together, whether it's based on a hobby, a skill, an interest, a passion, a culture, a sport, anything of that sort. . .You should be able to start it because there are people I'm sure, that are, looking for that community," Leauanae said. "It just takes that one person to take up that leadership role.”
Leauanae explained that while some students experience loneliness on campus, clubs, whether new or existing, allow students to make connections with people who feel similarly.
“If there's any way that a student can find a home on campus to make this big school feel small, feel personal, feel customized; that's what I think is the biggest contributor of clubs,” Leauanae said.
In the words of Pun, “It's really just pulling the pieces together to build a club. It does take more effort, but I think it's worth it to be officially recognized and to be a resource for students on campus.”
Whether building a club or a tower of Legos, Pun’s club models the impact new clubs can have on campus, brick by brick.
BYUSA invites students who want a deeper look into the existing 150 clubs on campus, including the Lego Club, to attend club nights on Tuesdays at the Wilkinson Student Center from 7-10 p.m. They can also visit clubs.byu.edu.
Students wanting to learn more about starting their own club should also visit the BYUSA office in the Wilkinson Student Center.