Last week, Genealogy Club President Alexandra Huff wrote a letter to the Student Government Association and student body announcing the disbandment of the club. Yesterday, the SGA voted to approve the disbandment of the Genealogy Club. Below is Huff’s letter.
Dear NVU-Lyndon SGA and Student Body,
The Genealogy Club was founded in the spring semester of 2019 on the hopes of helping other students discover where they are from and celebrating their heritage in a safe environment. We’ve had enjoyable times in the Vermont Room; our late-night meetings and mildly sleep deprived conversations will be remembered fondly by many of our members. But it is now time to bring these memories to a close.
COVID-19 hit the Genealogy Club hard. Many of our Executive Board members graduated, moved on, or went remote. In the remote spring semester earlier this year, we struggled to organize a time to talk about the club’s future and nominate student leaders to continue those discussions. The club has always struggled in expanding to new members, and the outstanding situation coming into this semester did not help.
While the club’s advertising methods have not been the strongest, it is clear that there are too few students interested in genealogy for us to continue as a club. It is in the best interest of Genealogy Club to disband ourselves until a time comes where the interest returns among the student body and the club may be resurrected by a new generation.
In its year and a half on campus, the Genealogy Club has had sessions to share very personal stories to a supportive group of friends and has worked hard to better members’ understanding of themselves and the field of genealogy. During “spooky season,” members studied the hidden meaning behind symbols on gravestones and the materials they were made from throughout the years. During the holidays, Genealogy Club partnered with the Cultural Ambassadors Society to bring “Cookies ‘n’ Culture,” an event where the NVU-Lyndon community gathered to share family holiday traditions and feast on pastries from all over the world.
It is my hope as a founding member of this club that these events will be brought back with new creative energy and enjoyed by the student body once again. 2020 is just simply not that time.
Thank you, SGA, for believing in this small group of students enough to bring this club to life and support our endeavors. Thank you, NVU-Lyndon, for taking the time to give us a chance and use the resources we provided.
It is with this letter that I propose the disbandment of the NVU-Lyndon Genealogy Club and thus resign from my position with it.
Until next time,
Alexandra Huff
Former President of Genealogy Club
Feature Photo by Trevor Utton || Genealogy Club President Alexandra Huff poses with the NVU-Lyndon Family Tree activity the club hosted at the 2019 Fall Involvement Fair.