The College Republican club is one of the most recent additions to JBU’s list of clubs and organizations. There is a specific process that clubs need to go through before they can be officially recognized.
Students have the opportunity to participate in the 30 University-recognized campus clubs. Each of these clubs, upon its founding, required a significant amount of thought and planning by all involved.
Each time a person or group wants to create an official club, the SGA has to approve it. The club leader must maneuver through a “process of verification,” said Jeremiah Moore, a JBU junior who, last year, formed a College Republican’s club.
Before a club can be made official by the SGA, a “full-time faculty or staff person” who can advise and sponsor the club must be selected. A constitution must then be drafted and sent to Maria Lehr to have it approved. Once Lehr and potential members approve the constitution and an SGA member has been asked to sponsor the club, it can then be presented to the SGA.
Moore has been running the College Republicans club for over a year now, having established the club in 2013.
“It’s not easy running a club, because there are a lot of things to worry about such as funding, scheduling meeting times and promoting the club to increase membership,” Moore said.
Running a club requires a significant time commitment.
“Class projects, working for the phone-a-thon and being in rugby can sometimes make it difficult to run the club,” Moore said. “Also, a lot of the members have to worry about the same things as myself, so they oftentimes have to set the club aside.”
The clubs on campus reflect the interests of each year’s student body.
“The amount of clubs added each year varies depending on the needs and wants of the student body,” Lehr said. “We don’t have a set number that we approve and deny. So far this year we have only added one new official club. I think there are others out there working on the process but only one has been officially approved by SGA at this time.”