Homecoming is such a beautiful time for ACU. Alumni come from every state to come back to their alma mater, the home of special memories and great friendships. Even the celebrations of multiple class reunions from their 15th, 25th and 50th that take place. 

One of the most anticipated events of homecoming that many look forward to is the homecoming parade. There are so many awesome participants that contribute to making the parade so fun and special. Some of those participants are pledges for social clubs, going through their right of passage to becoming members of the organizations.

Social Clubs have been around for one hundred of the one hundred and thirteen years that ACU has been open. Throughout the years we have gained and lost several clubs for both men and women. Starting with the men social clubs, we currently have six active men clubs on campus as well as six women clubs. 

The oldest men’s club on campus to date is the men of Sub T-16 who were founded in 1923. Currently they are not allowed to receive a pledge class or active but hopefully they will make a return in the spring. The second oldest men’s club on campus is the men of Trojans being founded in 1930.

Then the men of Frater Sodalis were founded in 1943, followed by the men of Galaxy who were founded in 1956. The men of Gamma Sigma Phi were founded in 1968. The men of Pi Kappa were founded in 1996. Lastly the men of Nu Kappa Psi, also known as Noble Kings, were founded in 2016.

With our women social clubs we have the women of Zeta Rho who were founded in 1944. Sadly they have folded after an attempt to revamp the club in 2016 with an intake 33 new members. The women of Delta Theta were founded in 1925 but went inactive in 2011, due to the lack sponsors. However, they rechartered in the spring of 2017 and they have thrived since being back.

The women of Alpha Kai Omega were founded in 2000, and the women of Tri Kappa Gamma were founded in 1986, then rechartered in fall of 2015. Then the women of Sigma Theta Chi were founded in 1969 and celebrating their 50th year of being on campus.

Now when it comes to the remaining two women’s clubs there has been a big debate about who is the oldest club on campus. According to history, the High-A Club was established in in 1919 but then two days later changed their name to Ko Jo Kai. The women of GATA were established and in 1920 but there name has never changed.

One of the pros of joining a social club is gaining a new community on campus. You are able to become apart of group individuals that have learned the same traditions and have endured almost the same challenges as those who came before to become a member of the club.

Another pro of joining a social club is the opportunities you get to create and establish connections. In every social club, there is a multitude of members that have different majors. As members graduate from ACU and go out into their career fields, there is a pretty high chance of knowing someone who was in that social club or they could help you get an interview.

Another pro is the friendships that are established. Joining a social club on campus allows you to meet different individuals that you possibly would not have met if it had not been for club. You can also meet and get really close to they could end up being your bridesmaid or groomsmen in your wedding.

However, there are some negatives that come with being in club as well as the positives. One of the cons is the lack of diversity.

This was the reason for the creation of the Noble Kings social club, to make minority males feel welcomed and accepted into a community for who they are and not for assumed athletic talents and abilities. The clubs on campus that are considered smaller, do not have this problem since they have for a while have pretty diverse members.

Now this is not to say that social clubs are not welcoming to all students but, for some it definitely feels that way. When asking several students who are not in club, “Why did you not pledge?”, the responses were all similar in regards that they did not feel there is a lot of representation and or diversity.

Another con of being in a social club is the exclusiveness. With pledging a social club, you are privy to the club’s traditions and secrets. Meaning that your friends who are not in club or in other clubs are not able to know all the traditions and secrets of your club. Nor are they able to attend those club specific events.

Social clubs are just like any of the other student organizations on campus. They were created to help establish community and an area to grow with peers.