What About Clubs? Get involved in Student Senate, Art Club, Curtain Club and Improvables

Improvables; from left to right: Sarah Stepp, Isaac Herrington, Jason Church

Photo credit: Sower Staff

By Kai Olbrich and Mi-Ree Zwick

This story is featured in the September print edition of the Sower newspaper.

The Student Senate gives a voice to student ideas and sometimes complaints, and improves campus. The Senate represents the student body and meets regularly with the Student Life Office, Chartwells Food Service, Buildings and Grounds and other departments on campus so that they can improve the environment for CUNE students.

Joshua Burmeister, the Student Senate president, said that it is an organization where representatives from different clubs on campus come together once a week “to make sure we’re all keeping the campus afloat and then from there, making sure things can improve.”

The Senate meets in Dunklau’s Lecture Hall at 6:15 p.m. each Tuesday to discuss any concerns, problems or suggestions for improvement.

“We have also addressed issues such as having night classes on Maundy Thursday when there’s church,” said Treasurer Emma VanTol. There are ongoing discussions with the administration about this topic.

“We actually encourage anyone on campus to attend (Senate meetings),” she said. “This is a place where anyone can bring their concerns.”

For example, a student recently brought attention to the lack of stoves in Philip.

“If people are willing to go out of their way one Tuesday and go to a meeting to tell us what they want changed, that helps tremendously,” said Vice President Quinlan Hendrickson.

He said the Senate represents the student body, but cannot know everything that is happening on campus.

“Without input, not much is going to get done,” said Henrickson.

Improvements spearheaded by the Senate include the newly renovated Outdoor Chapel behind the David dorm, the installation of hammock posts between the Janzow Campus Center and the Jonathan dorm and restaining the deck in between Janzow and the sand volleyball pit.

It is too early in the semester to know what the next big projects will be, but the Senate is always open to suggestions.

“If there’s anything you need, whether it’s campus related or just in general, feel free to give me a call or send me an email,” Burmeister said. “I’ll do what I can for you because you matter. Jesus is King, Amen.”

The best way to contact Senate officers is through their student emails.

The Art Club is an organization where the members focus on their love and appreciation for art regardless of their major.

“I plan events for people to attend, think of craft ideas for people to do, and try to make it accessible for anybody who wants to show up, not just art majors,” said Harley Storie, Art Club president.

The focus is to interact with art in any way, shape, or form.

“It’s honestly more about the medium itself. It’s less about the art classes and the teaching, more about what you’re creating,” said elementary education major Caroline Beck, who does art as a hobby.

Storie said that students do not need to have any previous experience with art. “If you just want to watch or hang out, you’re still engaging with art,” Storie added.

The purpose of the Art Club is to share art, to engage students with art and to learn how to work with new mediums.

Catherine Vyhlidal, a graphic design major, learned how to do printmaking last year for the first time.

“The art club is just people. We’re not serious at all, and we have fun,” Vyhlidal said.

Beck said that there are a variety of activities, but the frequency is “not too much to where you feel like you’re missing out.”

Anyone on the email list is invited to events and the times vary to help ensure that most people will have the opportunity to attend at least one event.

Storie said some events planned for the semester include a “big doodle on a big piece of paper,” needle-felting, service projects such as landscaping around Brommer, and “hopefully some field trips to some galleries.”

“Art talks happen every time we put a new show in the gallery,” said Storie. The talks will be about the pieces in the gallery.

The Art Club primarily communicates through email. To join the email list, students can contact Storie through her student email address.

The Concordia University Curtain Club is run on the ideas of student creativity, love for theater and having a welcoming environment.

Bryan Moore, professor of Communication and Theatre Arts, is the faculty adviser for the Curtain Club and he loves to see the creativity of his students. Last year students did a 24-hour play where they had the entire 24 hours to write it.

“They work together to write the play. They cast it, they rehearsed it and then they performed the play in a 24-hour period,” Moore said. “And that was cool. It’s, you know, it’s a really neat activity and event and the performance is open to the public to see it.”

Moore said the play turned out really well and said events where students use their creativity to engage with each other and collaborate provide opportunities for both themselves and for audiences.

“We definitely want to do a 24-hour play workshop again like we did last year. We will write, rehearse, and perform a play in a 24-hour span,” said Storie, who is Curtain Club president. “That was really fun last year, so we’re hoping we can do it again.”

The Curtain Club also does one-act performances and more developed plays.

The fall mainstage play will take place Nov. 8-10 and 15-17 in Weller Hall. It will be an adaptation of Lewis Carroll’s “Alice in Wonderland.”

“Any of our shows, anyone can audition for any show. And we just want the best people for the roles,” Moore said. “So regardless of major, scholarship, all those things, anybody can audition. And if you want to work backstage or behind the scenes or in the shops, those are volunteer opportunities.”

Improvables is a student-directed group under the umbrella of Curtain Club that meets twice a week to practice their improvisation skills. They also host different shows and events. Curtain Club Vice-President and Improvables panel member Caleb Jalas said he believes that improv can be useful in many aspects of life.

“Improv is a great way to work on social and communication skills, storytelling, flexible planning, and quick thinking,” he said. “We aim to tell stories in our scenes, and making them up as we go helps with being an effective planner as well as quickly adapting to new information.”

While Curtain Club is focused on theater it also hosts informal activities for any interested students. Moore said it can be a gathering to watch a movie or musical or a short trip to see a show in Lincoln or Omaha.

While the Curtain Club is not a religious club, members make sure to keep Christ at the center of what they do both on and off the stage. That is one of the main reasons Claire Horacek chose to attend Concordia.

“Really my favorite part about doing theater here is that it is Christ-based,” Horacek said. “It was really important to me because I’m a theater major, and so it was important to me when I was looking at colleges to have something that was genuinely focused on Christ, Christ-honoring, because you don’t find that on TV.”

Jalas loves seeing people grow and connect through their faith and in their relationships with others.
“We are a close community centered around our love for God and each other. Our prayer time at each practice grounds us in our Christian faith and reminds us that we are there to support each other,” Jalas said. “We offer a unique opportunity for personal growth with a host of people who want to see you grow and succeed.”