Communication club looks to study social campus interactions

Instead of just a final paper or project, one University of South Dakota class has something different in mind.

The advanced organizational communication class chose to create its own department’s student organization — the Communication Club.

“I like to do things in class. I think the hands-on experience is such a wonderful teacher, so much better than I would be just lecturing about theories or other concepts or issues or topics in organizational communication,” Nicole Ackman, organizational communication’s class instructor, said. “Really going through the process is so beneficial.”

Ackman has taught the class twice, but this is the first time she has left the projects up to the students.

The class must create the organization and host an event, and each student must write an 8-10 page paper on the experience, Ackman said.

“Everybody was dreaming really big and that’s so wonderful to see, it was inspiring,” Ackman said. “And that inspiration is still there, but they’ve realized that ‘OK, we’ve got to fulfill the requirements for this assignment.’ So instead of being so broad and so big they’ve had to scale back a little bit.”

The club is now in the process of writing its constitution, and hopes to become funding eligible with the Student Government Association. The club is not just going to be around for this semester — the students want it to have a long life on campus.

Jace Holzer, a transfer student pursuing a communication studies major and history minor, is the club’s president. He said this semester’s priorities are structure, recruitment and awareness.

“We do need to recruit, but we’ve already had people express interest, and the biggest thing that’s going to be different from our organization from others is that we will be multicultural,” Holzer said. “So we want to take in everyone’s ideas.”

In the meantime, they’ve partnered with Re-member, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to improve the quality of life on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, for a food drive.

During Stand-Off at Hwy #37, a USD theatre production performed earlier this month, members of the club raised a total of $220 by collecting donations outside of the theatre’s door.

Senior Elijah Bonde, a communication studies major and political science minor, is a member of the club. He acted as a liaison between the newly-founded club and the theatre department for the fundraiser.

“For the majority of the semester, if not the whole semester, we’ll work with the food drive or Re-member and at the same time sort of build the foundation of the communication club,” Bonde said.

Junior Shannon Billie, a communication studies major, is a current club member and plans to apply for vice president next year.

“So far, it’s been a great experience, just because we’ve all been able to express our opinions about how we want the communication club to start, or keep going, and no one’s opinions have been put down in a negative way,” Billie said.

Holzer’s vision is that in two years’ time, the Communication Club will be one of the biggest and most influential student organizations on campus. He would also eventually like to include other universities in their activities.

Next year, Holzer said the Communication Club will recreate case studies on communication, psychology, business and biology around USD’s campus, and document the results of how people interact on campus.

Although Holzer will be the club’s president again next year, he said he wants the ideas to come from other members.

“We’re going to need people with those ideas to explain those ideas and be passionate about their ideas because I am passionate about this,” Holzer said. “We’re going to be like no other organization.”

The Communication Club is hoping for as many different majors and backgrounds as possible to join the club in order for a variety of opinions, Holzer said.

“We’re not limiting ourselves to our department,” Billie said. “Obviously we don’t all communicate the same way.”