Marshall University has not had a Spanish club in over six years, but a few Spanish students have taken the initiative to start one again.

The Modern Language Department at Marshall University is home to numerous clubs that coincide with the official languages of their department. The president of the Spanish club, Catherine Wippel, said she felt like the Spanish department was being left out.

“We decided to start a Spanish club because we feel like there are a lot of Spanish speakers and a lot of students studying Spanish on campus who don’t have a way to get in contact with each other and we also want to bring in more cultural ideas and social connections,” Wippel said.

The first club meeting began with assigning officers for the positions of president, vice president, secretary and treasurer. The rest of the meeting became a brainstorming of ideas for events and activities for the club to take part in.

The club decided one of the most important aspects of the club should be about communicating in Spanish, speaking Spanish during meetings and making connections with fluent speakers to give them more real life experience.

“We just want to talk,” Vice President Taylor Stewart said. “Honestly, if all of us could just speak in Spanish and immerse ourselves in the culture that would be more than we need.”

Member expressed a desire to have “cooking parties,” where the club would get together and teach each other how to make new foods from Spanish cultures. They also decided to make a session about Hispanic dances and the cultures behind them.

“We realized we are novices and we are almost finished with the Spanish program,” Treasurer Delana Price said. “And we just thought it was a shame being juniors and seniors that we don’t know enough about the culture or the language.”

The club will offer an opportunity to study with fellow Spanish students by forming study groups consisting of upper level and new students.

Meetings for the Spanish club will start on Mondays at 5 p.m. and Tuesdays at 7:30 p.m. in the Memorial Student Center.

Monica Zalaznik can be reached at [email protected].