Effect is Back and Better Than Ever: A look at the Revamp of One of Elon’s Social Justice Clubs

On March 5, Elon University's feminist club, Effect, announced that it was taking a brief hiatus amid recent political and social changes in the United States and on campus.  Along with this announcement, which was made via email, Effect let its members know that it would celebrate a relaunch at the end of the month with a “pizza rolls, not gender roles” dinner party. As of March 29, the club officially started up again with a few changes that students can look forward to.

Co-Meeting Chair of Effect, Shay Friedman, explained the break for the club, “Starting this semester we noticed a dip in attendance. We felt like it was [due to] a burnout from some of the current political issues, which is completely understandable. We took a step back and regrouped.” The club additionally provided its members with resources during their intermission “in case they felt as affected by the Fall as [their] board members had.”

As for the changes the club plans to make, Friedman said that Effect will be much more activism-oriented for the remainder of the semester. “We’ve noticed that while our membership has gone down in our weekly meetings, a lot of people still turn out to the events we host. That really shows us that our members want more activism within the club, which we’re really excited for.”

Within the next few weeks, members can expect to see multiple events held by or involving Effect. “We’re planning on doing a lot for Sexual Assault Awareness Month,” said Friedman, “It’s a great month. Sparks, I am That Girl, and Effect all come together for the cause, which is really amazing.” Among the events included in this month are a poster-making session, held on April 10, and the annual March Against Victim Blaming, held on April 18.

Friedman expressed her hopes for the future of Effect, stating, “I don’t know if this is hard-pressed, but I would love to see our membership hike back up, even a little bit. It would be great to see some regulars come back out again.” As for those in charge of the club, Friedman said, “I would really like to see the fire from the exec members reemerge that we had at the beginning of the year.”

In addition to the dinner party held on March 29, Effect hosted their first meeting in three weeks on Monday, April 3, where they acquired suggestions from students on how the club should move forward. The framing question of the meeting was, “What does feminism mean to you?”

Friedman explained the idea behind this meeting, “Effect is all about intersectionality. We don’t really have one message that we get behind. We are just looking for people who want to support equality; both on our campus and in society.” She added that Elon students are encouraged to attend the meeting to share their ideas on equality and feminism, “This is a great opportunity to learn from our peers.”

This mindset, along with the changes the leaders of Effect have made, is intended to create an open minded and accepting environment within the club. With so many events on the horizon, It looks like Effect has a bright future ahead of them. Keep up the good work, ladies and gentlemen (men are welcome, too)!