It's been a year since an Irishman gathered enough fans to start William Paterson University's first functional Irish club.
Brian O’Broin, WPU English professor, is the founder of the Irish Club. He started the club last year with hope that there was an interest for Irish culture in WPU students. O’Broin started with about 70 signatures of students who thought they’d be interested and now has many more. The club has now about 150 total members.
"I e-mailed 300 students that had Irish-sounding last names and told them about the idea of an Irish club," said O’Broin. "I was expecting about five e-mails to be sent back to me, but there was close to fifty."Nick Bauter was one of the students who helped establish the club.
"I think one of the hardest parts of getting the club recognized by the SGA was the organization it took for the entire club to come together and get all the paperwork done," said Bauter. The club was recognized by the SGA in the Fall 2008 semester.
O’Broin’s club isn’t the first Irish club in WPU’s history, but it’s the first one to be active.
"There was the start of an Irish club in the seventies, but I believe it was discontinued because of lack of interest," said O’Broin.
Now there is a broad mix of members in the Irish Club. The majority of the club consists of juniors and seniors, many sophomores and a few freshmen.
"The goals of the Irish Club are to promote Irish culture in WPU and to squash stereotypes about the Irish culture," said O’Broin.
According to O’Broin, WPU’s faculty and staff shows much interest in Irish culture. Faculty and staff members have helped the club activity by taking the students on tours to old Catholic parishes in Manhattan, lectures on Irish art, and construct events to celebrate Irish holidays.
Bauter said the Irish club will be showing an Irish movie called "The Wind that Shakes the Barley" in the Library Auditorium during Common Hour on March 12. The Irish club will also have a brief lesson on the Irish language taught by O‘Broin as a celebration of St. Patrick’s Day. The lesson is called "Irish Gaelic in an Hour."
"We want to eventually be able to offer Irish Gaelic as a language for credit," said O’Broin.
O’Broin also said he wants to try and get the club members into the Bronx to watch some Irish sports. Hurling and Gaelic football are two sports that are played in the Bronx that represent the Irish culture.
The club may be showing the art and history side of the culture now, but also intend on teaching students more about the activities of the culture as well.
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