BYUSA clubs fulfill the aims of BYU by providing students opportunities to deepen their spirituality, expand their intellect, develop character and cultivate skills that encourage lifelong learning and service.
On a typical Tuesday night, BYU’s Wilkinson Student Center is buzzing with activity. Country music can be heard drifting over from the main ballroom, where the swing dancing club is busy learning new steps. Shouts of laughter erupt from the Knights of the Y, and the Chess Club positions their knights of a different kind, ready to advance quietly across their black and white battleground.
What people might not see — not until they look closer — is that the clubs of BYUSA are teaching life lessons that go beyond lectures and PowerPoints by embodying the aims of a BYU education.
The four aims of a BYU education are being spiritually strengthening, intellectually enlarging, character building and leading to lifelong learning and service, according to BYU’s mission and aims page.
“To this end, BYU seeks to develop students of faith, intellect, and character who have the skills and the desire to continue learning and to serve others throughout their lives,” BYU’s mission page states.
While BYU’s aims may be focused on the way one is taught in the classroom, the aims are also accomplished in many other places on campus, including the clubs.
BYUSA's Vice President of Clubs Ezra Leauanae explained that it all connects back to experiential learning.
“Whether you're a club officer, a club member, a club volunteer, you're in some way developing a skill that's outside of the classroom – whether that's communication, teamwork, delegation, leadership, things like that,” Leauanae said. “So I’d say that's kind of where it goes back to is, learning and service, because you're serving students but also learning how to develop skills and talents.”
Many clubs don’t simply focus on one aim. Instead, many clubs intertwine the values, creating opportunities for growth.
Spiritually strengthening
On BYU’s clubs page, many clubs are listed, including multiple religious clubs — such as the Catholic Newman club or the Cross Seekers Christian Fellowship — which directly foster spiritual growth. However, these clubs aren’t the only ones that are able to strengthen students spiritually.
Sabrina Stewart, a new member of the Fight Malnutrition Club, explained that during fall semester’s Care Week, the club raised money through their annual Hunger Banquet for the Kaiizen Foundation, which was working on a project at a homeless encampment in Mexico.
The experience was more than just an opportunity for service, Stewart said. For her, it was also spiritually strengthening.
“As disciples of Jesus Christ, we made a covenant that we're going to care about other people, and that's really what this is all about,” Stewart explained. “It's really not about you, just about what we can do in the world. So I think that is spiritually strengthening … It's just, like, one of those things where you realize that people really do want to do good.”
Character building
The clubs at BYU also build the character of the students who participate in them. Some students are even able to take those skills outside of the club and apply them to the community at large.
Aiyana Clemens, an officer of the yo-yo club, explained how clubs can help build character.
“With character building, clubs take a lot of discipline ... it also helps you get outside your comfort zone,” Clemens said. “You learn new skills — not only to be able to do those skills within the club, but also within the community.”
This idea was echoed by Jade Sorensen, a sophomore studying biology and an instructor at the swing dancing club. The club is something that builds character in teaching something new every time, she said.
“I think you could count it for character building … swing dancing is fun, but it's not always easy,” Sorensen said.
Intellectually Enlarging
The clubs provide an opportunity for learning. While Sorensen said that swing dancing club is a place for people to come have fun, she also said that her favorite part of the club is learning something new every time she attends.
“Whether it's a line dance or a new move or just meeting new people, you always learn something new,” Sorensen said.
Caden Williams, a BYUSA volunteer, said that the clubs help to fulfill these aims through experiences that have real-world applications.
“There's clubs for marketing, there's clubs for distribution,” Williams said. “As you present the service, you're also receiving experience in your own life. That can help you later on down the road.”
Lifelong learning and service
BYU clubs have opportunities for service during the semester. One of these opportunities is Care Week, the one week when campus clubs can raise money for charities. Students are able to foster habits of learning and service that will stay with them for a lifetime.
“BYUSA completes two goals at the same time. You're giving your own time to be able to serve your fellow students with activities like these. So, you're presenting service and that helps you have a more Christ oriented outlook on life while, at the same time, these clubs are designed to bring you experience in real life,” Williams said.
No matter a club's chosen aim, the connections the clubs build help students to achieve them.
“I think that our club is just belonging. Like, I honestly came and found people who were like me,” Mia Harper, president of the Yo-yo Club, said. “And it was comforting for me to know there are people who love what I do; it was just fun to find a family.”
The work done by the clubs allows for people to grow and encourage each other to fulfill the aims of BYU in their own lives and communities.
“It's just one of those things where you realize that people really do want to do good, and their desire to do good fuels your own desire," Stewart said.