By Emily, Jenkins, volunteer
The English Club strives to be accessible to all majors and students with different interests at the University of Mary-Hardin Baylor by hosting special events and weekly meetings.
Last Tuesday, Oct. 22 from 6 to 8 p.m., the English Club hosted their annual Poe Party at Lord Conference Center in the Parker Academic Center. Emma Smith explained that each year the English Club invites the entire campus to celebrate the life and death of Edgar Allan Poe. Smith further describes the different events their Poe Party includes like the faux Poe contest, costume contest, Kahoot! trivia's, and a reading of “The Raven” by Edgar Allan Poe. The faux Poe contest is a club favorite. Smith said, “It’s a parody writing contest. So, you write a parody of the first two stanzas of Edgar Allan Poe’s ‘The Raven.’ And then, you turn it in for a chance to win, maybe my favorite prize ever, which is a pretty book. It is all the complete works of Edgar Allan Poe.” To top all of these events off, the Poe Party provides free food, as Treasurer Miriam Odle mentioned.
This coming Spring they will host their annual Shakespeare by the Pond where they invite the entire campus to celebrate William Shakespeare. Emma Smith described Shakespeare by the Pond as the club’s spring equivalent of their Poe Party. Miriam Odle mentioned a couple of the events at this spring party like a costume party and a parody writing contest on Shakespeare’s “Sonnet 18: Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer’s Day?” Emma Smith also mentioned that their greatly appreciated Club Sponsor, Dr. Dumas, teaches them how to stage fight and “At the end we have a Shakespeare murder mystery, which is so fun.”
Additionally, last Sept. 23-27, the English Club started their first Banned Book Week event where they set up tables on King Street and in front of the library handing out treats to raise awareness about the discouraged practice of banning books, as Secretary Maya Woods mentioned.
The English Club also hosts weekly meetings called ‘studiscivity.’ Miriam Odle comments on this unique name saying that the idea is that the first thirty minutes are devoted to studying, then an activity from 6:30 to 7:30, and finally a discussion. The resulting name is study-discussion- activity or ‘studiscivities.’
Generally the ‘studiscivities’ are in York 10 from 6 to 8. Each ‘studiscivity’ has a theme like Harry Potter, Percy Jackson, Dystopian, Hunger Games, and others, as Smith mentioned.
For more information about these ‘studiscivities,’connect with the English Club on Instagram at: ‘umhbenglishclub.’
