So You Want to Start a Student Pagan Association?

How to Start a Pagan Group at Your College or University…

We’ve had a lot of requests (2 or 3 a month) over the years about how to start a pagan group at various institutions of higher learning.  So here are some basic instructions and suggestions from the experiences we’ve had over the last decade.

Getting Started…

·        First, put up fliers around your university and local bookstores asking anyone interested in a university pagan group to contact you via e-mail.  From this you can gauge the amount of interest that you have in your area.  You may wish to specify that both students and non-students are welcome, especially if there are only a small number of student pagans in your area.  Some of our most helpful and most active participants have been faculty and even just non-student community members.  With even just a few interested persons, you can greatly cut down on the amount of organizational work that any one individual has to do.

·        Next, contact your university’s Office of Student Affairs or Registered Student Organization Office (or whatever equivalent office your university has) about the requirements for starting a new registered student organization, and if there are any cut-off dates during the semester before which organizations have to apply.  Usually these requirements include having a constitution (you can see ours here for an example) and/or a statement of purpose, having a few basic officers, and finding an advisor or minister.  If your university will allow you to have just a minister, then see if you can’t find a local pagan minister.  If not, then you may want to try the local Unitarian minister.  If you need a faculty member for an advisor, some universities will appoint you one, others will make you find your own.  If you have to try to find your own, ask the professors of the Religious Studies department, Anthropology department, Philosophy department, Classics department, etc. until you are able to find someone.  Assure the potential advisors that they do not have to be pagan and that it will require a minimum of work on their part (which it shouldn’t if you organize your group well).  Be sure to be grateful to your advisor and to treat him/her well and with respect.

·        If your university discourages you from creating a university pagan organization, point out that there are university pagan groups all over the country – direct them to the “Pagans on Campus” webpage for a good listing (and try to get your group added to this page as well if you are able to successfully start a group).  Many university officials may not understand what “pagan” means (not even all pagans agree on a definition for that matter), so you may need to explain that paganism tends to deal with nature spirituality and the study of (primarily) pre-Christian religions.  If you attend a private college (especially a Christian-funded one) you may have to settle for a non-official student group.  Alternatively, private colleges that won’t allow groups with “Pagan” in the name, might allow a “World Religions Organization” or a “Nature Spirituality Organization” or even a “Creation Spirituality Organization” -- so that you can have a “pagan” or “pagan-related” group, but just not call it that.  If you are too late in the semester to start an official group, or if your college absolutely refuses, then have an unofficial informal pagan group.  You should still be able to gather unofficially in public places on campus, such as the university’s union building or library rooms.  If you are too late in the semester to start an official group, then take full advantage of the current semester as a “formative” semester, i.e., getting the requirements and/or paperwork done for the next semester, advertising for potential members, etc.

Now that You Have a Group…

·        You need to reserve a room on campus if possible and as early as possible.  Often there is an individual or department on campus responsible for letting groups reserve rooms.  Sometimes each building has its own reservation department.  Call your campus operator, or look in your campus phone directory if you need help.  Reserve the same room for same time for the entire semester, if possible.  That way, people will more easily know where to go week after week.

·        You will need to set a meeting time.  After work hours is usually best for most students, since so many have classes or work during the day.  Between 6 pm and 7 pm on Wednesdays has worked well for us.  Weekly meetings are also better than every other week (most people forget which weeks have the meetings) and once monthly (people don’t get together enough to know each other very well).  Try to set a structure for every meeting—otherwise, discussions either don’t materialize, or they run too long, or they devolve into big debates—and people stop attending.  But, the dynamic for each group will be different, of course.  The first meeting or two each semester for us usually are planning meetings to set the themes for the semester or are “please introduce yourself” type gatherings.  Then, for the other meetings, we  invite people from the community or from within our group to give short (15-45 minute) lectures of interest to our members for each of the remaining meetings.  The lectures vary from “What is Wicca?” to “Reiki” to “How to Meditate.”  Be sure to treat the lecturers well – buy them coffee or supper afterwards, if possible.  This lecture-system helps us to build a network of resources and friends in our area.  These lectures are also open to everyone on campus and in the area, so we provide an education service to our university and community, as well.

·        Keep dues to a minimum – usually $5 to $10 a year is within most students’ budgets.  Spend the group dues frugally.  We’ve tried a group lending library over the years, but it never seems to work out -- people who leave school or graduate often take books away with them from the lending library, whether the books were from individuals or even bought with group funds.  T-Shirts are often good fund-raisers, if you need more funding for events.

·        Put up at least a basic webpage, so that you have a presence on the web.  You university may give your group space for a webpage and an e-mail address – check with your university’s Computing Services office

·        Start an e-mail list for announcements for the members.  Yahoo Groups allows you to start a list for free, or your university may give you a free list – check with your university’s Computing Services office.  But, preferably allow only messages directly pertaining to the group to be posted to the list (we’re still struggling with this one) – otherwise, people leave the list when there are too many messages, and then they don’t know when upcoming events are.  Be sure to set up a code of conduct for the list if possible – ours is here.

Other Suggestions…

·        Strive for a “big-tent” paganism type of group, and encourage tolerance within your membership.  Otherwise, members of one or more pagan faiths may feel excluded, and most groups won’t have enough members of any one pagan faith (Wiccans, Asatruar, Reconstructionists, etc.) to form a university group of its own of any size.  Besides, eclecticism has been a big trend in paganism over the last decade or so, and it never hurts to learn about other pagan faiths.  You may even have liberal Christian, liberal Jewish, Christo-Pagan, Judeo-Pagan, atheist nature-lovers, etc. members, so it is important to be tolerant of even other non-pagan faiths, lest you alienate those members.

·        One of the best and most successful ideas that we’ve had over the years has been to meet at a nearby coffeehouse after our meetings.  People are much more willing to connect, relax, form friendships, and build a community over a cup of coffee or a glass of wine or a mug of beer than they are during an official meeting.  Also schedule a few just-for-fun events during the semester – a pizza party or field trips often work well.

·        You should also advertise your group on the internet through state listings at the “Pagans on Campus” webpage, WitchVox listings, Witch’s Brew, etc.  Lots of people check these listings periodically, and there may be more interested persons in your area that find you via these pages.

·        You may wish to network with other pagan groups in your area.  There are open Wiccan, Covenant of Unitarian Universalist Pagan, general neo-pagan, Asatru, Celtic, etc. groups in almost every state.  You might be able to share resources or hold ceremonies in common with some of these groups.  If not, you may wish to hold your own optional ceremonies for interested members.  These ceremonies should usually be as general as possible, so that as many members as possible will feel comfortable as possible.  You may have to substitute God and Goddess or Lord and Lady instead of specific deity names.  You should also have a basic code of conduct for the ceremonies if possible – ours is here.  There are several pre-written rituals on the web, so often you don’t even have to write your own (just be sure to credit the author).

·        Join your university’s Council of Religious Organizations.  It helps other religious organizations on campus to understand your group, it helps legitimize your group (if that is an issue), it usually gives you free advertising in their brochures and listings, and it is a great way to do community-service projects with persons of other faiths.  You may also try to get a representative on your city’s Ministerial Alliance or Council.

·        Older members and former officers may serve as an unofficial “leadership council” to the group in order to give advice and to help new officers fill out the group’s yearly registration paperwork.  You should also try to gather a list of local pagan (or pagan-friendly) ministers and therapists – the services these persons provide are often asked for by members.

·        We strive to meet the needs of our members on three different levels: spiritual (we hold optional ceremonies and do community-service projects), intellectual (we offer free lectures almost every week during the semester at our meetings, and we encourage academic excellence among our members – including language study, knowledge of the religious literature of our traditions, and good familiarity with the historical facts of our pagan traditions), and social (we meet informally at a coffeehouse after the meetings, and we have informal just-for-fun events throughout the semester in order to build a strong community).

·        Be sure to advertise your meetings well, so that potential members can learn of your group and so that your university is always aware that your group isn’t defunct.  Your university’s newspaper and/or webpages may also give you free advertisements or announcement space for your upcoming events.