English Club

The club, which is Lafayette’s oldest student club, has been a part of its extracurricular scene since the early 19th century. When it was officially welcomed back to campus last year, Cangro had a renewed purpose in mind, which was to “provide an outlet to student readers and writers that is not in a formal academic classroom.”

In addition to weekly club meetings where the ever-growing group alternates between literature discussion and creative writing workshops, they have sponsored two campus-wide poetry slams. The first event was held at Mojo 516 Café just off campus on March Street, while the second moved to President Nicole Hurd’s house to accommodate more attendees. Each celebration of poetry drew in over 50 community members, providing a space for seasoned poets and burgeoning writers alike. One of the highlights for Cangro was when a professor decided to read at the event despite never having shared her poetry publicly before.

“Being that vulnerable in a new space with that many people is a very scary thing to do, so the fact that people are willing to overcome that fear for the sake of sharing their work with us is really meaningful to me,” Cangro says.

The club’s resurrection is fulfilling a desire for both students and community, according to Cangro.

“A space to share writing was clearly something people were craving,” Cangro says. “I’m so glad we’ve been able to provide that for the community.”