By: Fatima Abu-Rumman
Saint Leo offers a plethora of on-campus clubs and organizations that students can participate in, for example, the Pre-Med club, Gaming Club, K-pop and Anime Club, Poetry Clubs and many more. Students also have the ability to enter a process that will allow them to create a new club.
Two of the on-campus clubs are the Cannon Memorial Library Readers Club, run by Mr. Angel Jimenez, and the Student Book Club, run by Dr. Kathryn Duncan. Although two separate clubs devoted to reading literature may seem excessive, each club has its own purpose and structure that generates a unique environment for participants to discuss and enjoy the selected text.
The Cannon Memorial Library Readers Club was started with the intention to increase literary culture on campus, something Jimenez finds to be particularly important considering that Saint Leo is a Liberal Arts University. Jimenez mentioned the main intention of the club is to create a space where students, staff, and faculty are all on common ground.
“Nobody is giving grades, there is no hierarchy. We try to structure it [the club]in a horizontal way as opposed to a hierarchical way,” said Jimenez.
The club is relatively new, having started up last semester when participants would meet once a month to discuss the text and continuing into this Spring 2019 semester where participants now meet twice a month in the café area of the library.
The club gravitates towards literature that addresses social justice issues including a range of authors coming from different cultural backgrounds including British, Japanese, African American, Nigerian, and German. Topics covered by the literature and discussed as a group include domestic abuse and resistance to it, political tyranny and resistance to it, imperialism (Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro), gentrification (Sula by Toni Morrison), and the history of racism in the US (Kevin Young poetry).
The literature is selected by receiving suggestions from the members and using those suggestions to create a program of texts to read throughout the semester.
Some students mentioned interest in graphic novels and so the spring semester program includes a graphic novel. The dates of meetings and the books are determined prior to the first meeting of that semester based on member availability. According to Professor Jimenez, the best part of the club is, “hearing student’s perspectives because students will say things that are just mind-blowing. I didn’t see that at all and it just makes perfect sense”.
He enjoys being able to learn from the students and faculty and hear different understandings of the same text. The biggest challenge is scheduling and publicity. The club would love to have more members but it is difficult to spread the word and gain new members.
Jimenez wants potential members to know that the Readers Club is an inclusive space.
“People are welcome to come join the discussion, even if they have not read the book or poetry for the meeting. Students are welcome to come sit and just listen if they wish; there will be a theme or topic that comes up that is relevant to everybody, so even if someone hasn’t read the books they can still have something to say, if they want to. Everyone’s voice has value,” said Jimenez.
Students receive the literature that is being read, either online free or provided by the club as a hardcopy book, as well as free T-shirts.
The Student Book Club was started back in 2001 for a similar reason that the Cannon Memorial Readers Club was. Duncan would ask her students what books they liked to read for fun and the general answer was a resounding “none.”
As an English professor, this hurt Duncan’s heart and she wanted to find a way to encourage students to read for fun, thus she started the informal club to create a reading space that did not involve quizzes, tests, or essays but rather a space for students to select books they were interested in and enjoy them with others. The club meets anywhere from 2-3 times a semester, depending on the current members and how avid of readers they are.
The club meets in Duncan’s office, or occasionally in a reserved room depending on the number of students attending. She provides food and drink for the students to enjoy during the meeting. The club continues reading during the summer and conjoins in the fall to discuss the books. The books read include Young Adult books as well as more mature, adult level book.However, they do not sit down and read Shakespeare or any literature that is difficult. There are no restrictions, goals or objectives when choosing books or topics to discuss. The students choose the books they read so that the club can convene and, “just have fun and talk about what we like… If there is a movie we almost inevitably discuss the movie,” according to Duncan.
The club is meant to be casual and relaxed as well as mainly student run. Duncan is in charge of scheduling and snacks, however, the rest she leaves up to the students. Duncan enjoys hearing the discussions and of course, the actual reading of the books. The students bring new books to her, and each other’s, attention that they may not have read on their own.
Duncan what potential members to know that everyone is welcome.
“They are welcome and that it’s not just English majors, it is interdisciplinary and whoever wants to come is welcome,” she said.
One of the challenges she experiences, similar to the Readers Club book club, is publicity and gaining new members. The majority of members either know Duncan and trust her to not force them to read Shakespeare, or they tag along with friends who attend the meetings. Duncan would love to have more people come and be a part of the fun.
Both of these clubs are looking for new members to come discuss their ideas, opinions and viewpoints. Each club brings important Saint Leo values to the table, the most prominent one being Community. These clubs both provide a space for members to actively participate and meet new people while sharing ideas and learning in a fun, encouraging way.
