Jacob Jardel
Sports Editor
@JJardel_Writing
A new organization on campus is coming to help Aggies give back to the community.
A group of students have begun the process of starting Cameron University Circle K International (CKI) this fall. CKI is the collegiate step up from Kiwanis’ high school service organization Key Club.
CKI is also the world’s largest student-led service organization at the collegiate level. According to Robbie Day, freshman biology major and club president, the distinction sets the organization apart from other service groups.
“That’s a statement we are proud of,” Day said.
According to him, part of the reason for this merit is the variety of service opportunities CKI as a whole offers. He feels CKI can provide just as much a chance to give back.
“We have any kind of volunteer service thing that you would like to bring or see happen through CKI,” Day said. “As long as they’re interested in leading the committee, doing a lot of the work to get our volunteering up and working, I will work with anybody to get that going.”
Faculty advisor and Instructor in the Office of Teaching and Learning Jason Poudrier met with Day and fellow freshman Rayquan Lewis to break ground on the new organization. According to Poudrier, the pair made great strides to get the club going – even early on.
“Both [students] exhibited a contagious enthusiasm for organizing a chapter of CKI at Cameron,” Poudrier said.
For Day, this enthusiasm came after realizing Cameron is where he wanted to attend college.
“I … fell in love with Cameron and wanted to bring my love for Circle K and my love for Cameron together,” he said. “So I wanted to get this started. It’s been a dream in my plans ever since I went to Key Club District Convention this year and found out that it was possible.”
In order to make CKI come to fruition, the group has been working with individuals in both Kiwanis and the district-level CKI. Day said that they have had to accommodate to various input sources the whole time.
“It’s kind of a balancing act, having to take in everything and all the information we need to know to get it started [and] to get members,” he said. “I’m very confident in that.”
Poudrier is also the advisor of Student Veterans of America. His experience advising that organization gives him a similar faith in the club getting started and obtaining members.
“I love working with students here at Cameron and assisting them in organizing events,” Poudrier said. “There are so many things that students do when organized as a group that the possibilities are limitless.”
This endless potential makes Day feel that everyone involved can benefit from CKI.
“I think it’s going to make not only Kiwanis and CKI look better, but also Cameron University and the Lawton community look better,” he said, “especially once we get our name out there and they see that we have this strong group of college students that come out … and do volunteer activities.”
Poudrier agreed, adding that the number of benefits members can have during their time with CKI.
“CKI Members will benefit from being able to network with local business owners who are members of Kiwanis,” he said, “and CKI members will be able to exhibit first-hand their personal leadership skills as they organize, collaborate and participate in community projects.”
According to Day, even with all the benefits, the aim of CKI is to give back with those community projects.
“We’re going to do a lot,” he said. “We’re hoping to do a wide variety of things in the community to make it better.”
Students interested in joining CKI can contact Jason Poudrier at jpoudrie@cameron.edu. The organization’s first meeting is at 6:30 p.m. on Sept. 22 in the MCC Ballroom.