Last Tuesday, the Lawrence University Hanging Out Club became the latest group to be officially recognized by LUCC.
The group was approved by the LUCC Steering Committee last Thursday after being interviewed by the LUCC Interviewing Committee and discussed by LUCC Subcommittee on Discussions, but needed the two committees’ decisions ratified by the LUCC General Council in order to be officially recognized.
“This recognition is a big step for our club,” boasted LUHOC president Madison Tift. “This gives us more prominence on campus. An ordinary club about hanging out would not be taken seriously, but an LUCC-recognized one will certainly be.”
The club, he explained, promotes casually spending time with old and new friends.
“This issue is important not only to the members, but also to the campus at large. Just look at the hundreds of students on thefacebook.com who list ‘hanging out’ as an activity. It is almost as popular as music, and seeing that we have a whole damn conservatory for music, I don’t see why we can’t have one little club for hanging out.”
Yet the existence of this “little club” is being challenged by some who do not believe that LUCC should have recognized it.
Former LUCC vice president Stephanie Kliethermes complained, “This decision was poorly made. The group doesn’t even have a purpose. Look at what happens the minute I leave. I expected better from the LUCC representatives that I trained.”
Representative Megan Bjella defended the decision, saying, “What the hell, it’s third term and I’m tired of going to these stupid meetings. It’s fine by me if some kids want to have a club about something stupid; half the clubs here are just as dumb. It’s not like it costs us anything to approve some group that is going to be defunct within a year anyway. Turning [Tift] down would have extended the meeting by a good 15 minutes.”
Tift’s plans for the club include group hangout sessions. “We’re probably just going to play some video games in my room at first, but as LUHOC grows, our meetings will take place at more intense casual hangout locations such as Brewed [Awakenings].”
Tift is confident that the club will eventually move to larger meeting places like the coffeehouse.
“Strictly, we promote hanging out,” he said, “but many times that act includes things like eating, listening to music, and recreational drug use. The diverse manifestations of ‘hanging out’ will result in our appealing to a large audience.”
Upon receiving official recognition, LUHOC received a $5,700 allocation from LUCC Finance Committee for two upcoming conventions and a guest speaker.
LUHOC Gains Official Recognition – mcb
