Truman’s eye-catching clubs
On Aug. 26, long after freshman week is over and your classes have begun, you will be beckoned to the SUB by the activities fair. This event takes place every semester to showcase the wide variety of student organizations here on campus, and it’s nothing short of overwhelming. Clubs can easily fall off your radar as you walk through the rows and rows of tables collecting armfuls of swag and freebies. Here are some clubs that have caught my attention that I encourage you to keep an eye out for as you peruse the plethora of options.
PLANTS! @tsu_plants – PLANTS! is a club that offers more beyond what its enthusiastic name suggests. Senior Emily Kraft, the president of PLANTS!, said that students don’t need a green thumb to join the club. PLANTS! has organized game nights, tea parties with coloring and tours of the greenhouse. The club mixes fun with giving back through community service events such as campus cleanups and decorating flower pots for senior residents in Kirksville in collaboration with other organizations on campus.
Whether you join for the service or the activities, the club is a good way to get a break from stress during the semester.
“It’s important to practice those self-care moments and have a time built into your week or your month where you go and you do something that’s not related to school to help you de-stress, or help your community, or form those connections with other people, and I think that’s probably the biggest thing that someone could get out of coming to our meetings,” Kraft said.
Off the Grid @tsu_offthegrid – In the fall semester of 2025, Truman graduate student Ellie Wogen and her biology friends started Off the Grid, a club to get student’s minds off of the stress of class by going outside. Through events the club hosts such as scavenger hunts and painting at Thousand Hills State Park, members of Off the Grid are given the chance to get out of a study bubble or dorm room and focus on their mental health.
By encouraging its members to get outside, Off the Grid provides students with an environment to make connections with new people.
“Truman does a really good job of putting us in a lot of classes with people from our major, but it’s harder to meet kids outside of your major – especially if you’re not in a sorority or [other organizations] like that,” Wogen said. “I think Off the Grid has really helped with that. We’ve met a lot of new people that we wouldn’t have had the opportunity to meet had we not started this club.”
Crochet Club @tsu.crochets – If you’re looking for a club that will help you unwind and get creative, Junior Ally Black, president and founder of Crochet Club, said that crochet is a good way to relax and deconstruct while movies play in the background. If you’ve never crocheted before, don’t be intimidated by the loops and stitches – the club welcomes all skill levels and teaches the art form to beginners. The club is also flexible with times, giving its members the ability to come and go as needed.
Black said that her favorite part of crochet club is the community it has fostered and seeing what everyone is working on. Crochet Club not only fosters community, but gives its members an opportunity to learn from each other.
“We have some members who don’t actually crochet, but they do other fiber arts, and they’ll bring their embroidery or their knitting with them,” Black said. “I think it’s always really cool to get to learn about their projects too.”
If these clubs didn’t spark your interest, never fear. Truman has a club for everyone, whether you like gardening, playing sports, crafting, debating, listening to music or – my personal favorite – writing. Try a few, they have a lot to offer!
