Hampden-Sydney has the honor of hosting many student organizations. Most of our students here participate in at least one of these many organizations. According to OrgSync, there are over 70 clubs and organizations on campus, ranging from the Clay Targets Club and Inter Varsity Christian Fellowship, to College Republicans and the Union-Philanthropic Society. If there is a group of interested students, it is more than likely a club will be formed. 

Recently a new organization has been trying to form. A slow increase in interest for a poetry society is what sparked sophomore Chris Griggs into wanting to form such a club. As of right now, the club is the Unofficial Poetry Society; he calls it a “prospective group…for people to get together and appreciate literature and poetry.” Currently the group is titled “unofficial” because of complications to get it officially chartered. However, with help from Jongleur’s Vice-President Benjamin Brown ’10, Griggs was able to host the organization’s first Poetry Exhibit, which, according to Brown, featured professors and students who participated in poetry readings as well as a special performance by Pitch Perfect from Longwood. 

Griggs states that the main goal for UPS is to “turn the ‘U’ into an ‘O’” and with the encouragement from Brown, “the group might have a real future, so next year I want to try to get funding for the club and get it recognized as an official organization at H-SC.” Brown says that he is “particularly partial to those [groups] which are up and coming or otherwise seem as if they need guidance.” Part of Brown’s help is getting Griggs started on “an event that would provide enough publicity to encourage interest in the future.” Because Brown is graduating this year, he has been training Griggs in the art of club leadership. 

Today this article serves as an open invitation to the entire Hampden-Sydney community. Poetry and literature are one of humanities oldest forms of expression, and much of history is preserved through literary writing. Each of us has the ability to make and change history. A part of that history includes poetry and prose. Brown closes by saying that he is “excited about the possibilities of the Unofficial Poetry Society and hope[s] that it will achieve its goal by bringing the campus’ writers together in the spirit of sharing their art.” Griggs hopes that “quality events like the Exhibition can become a regular occurrence,” and is anyone is “interested in literature/poetry, please keep an eye out for the UPS in the near future.” So readers, if you are curious about writing and enjoying poetry and literature, then please feel free to express your interest to Chris Griggs. Hopefully, next year the student body will have another organization available for the furthering of knowledge, and in this case, expression and art.

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