At this time last fall, University sophomore Amanda Sandstrom was a new student getting used to college and seeking involvement around campus. Now, she is the President and co-founder of a new and growing club – Campus Cursive.
Campus Cursive’s purpose is to create and distribute hand written love letters with the intent of making a difference around campus and the Bowling Green community. The group became an official University sanctioned organization in February 2016. Campus Cursive is found at other colleges around the country, and is a sister organization of More Love Letters (MLL).
The love letters written are not the type found in romantic novels or those intended for a boyfriend or girlfriend – they serve to encourage, give thanks or uplift their readers. Campus Cursive often leaves letters around campus and the community for anyone and everyone to find. Popular places around campus for the group to leave letters include bathrooms and the library.
“In between books is my favorite (place to leave letters) because I love the idea that a letter could sit for years…and maybe in three years someone will find one in the library that I left,” Sandstrom said.
The group also sends “letter bundles” to those in particular need of a lift-me-up. Some requests come directly from MLL. Letter bundles are sent from all over the world in response to requests made public by MLL. The group also takes requests from the campus and community, delivering letter bundles locally.
During the first few weeks of school, the officer board has been in high gear hosting events, self-advertising and organizing for the coming school year. They’ve been doing well so far; Campus Cursive was the first organization to register for Campus fest, and the hard work payed off – over 150 students added their names to the email list for Campus Cursive on Thursday.
Although the officer board has the goal of expanding the group’s membership, numbers are not soley what they’re after.
“It’s okay to have a smaller group if it’s a group that’s dedicated and it’s a group that really cares about it,” Vice President of Campus Cursive Katelyn Eisenmann said.
Members need not attend weekly meetings, but can join in by writing love letters in their free time and leaving them around campus or submitting them for letter bundles.
“The group has the chance to be spontaneous,” Eisenmann said.
The spontaneity of the group, such as organizing a birthday letter bundle with zero notice, is one of its unique characteristics in comparison to other campus organizations.
Last semester the group became aware of a student celebrating her birthday alone, as her roommate had left for the weekend. In response, Campus Cursive gathered up a team and slipped a letter bundle underneath the student’s door – never knowing if she received it.
Part of the spontaneity of the group stems from the structure of its officer board, which as Eisenmann described is that of a team, and deliberately not hierarchical.
Faced with the reality of knowing some of their letters are thrown away or never found, Sandstrom and Eisenmann remain extremely optimistic.
“Even if one accidently gets thrown away, maybe the person that’s going to find it is a trash picker,” Sandstrom said. Eisenmann added they have faith that sometimes a letter “gets to that one person who really needed it and didn’t know they needed it until they opened it.”
Sandstrom’s inspiration for the group dates back to high school, when as a junior she discovered MLL. She wrote letters by herself as part of MLL, and she wanted to bring the practice to college. Sandstrom suggested to Eisenmann that they write letters as roommates, and Eisenmann brought forth the idea of a campus organization. After further research, the two students found out about Campus Cursive, and immediately began the process to create the club at the University.
Currently, all five officers of the group are sophomores. Sandstrom said that during the next couple of years they will keep their eyes out for potential new officer board members to carry on with the group after graduation.
“It’s very important that it maintains its authenticity,” Sandstrom said in regards to future leadership of the club.
Campus Cursive meets every Thursday at 7:00pm in the Business Administration Building, room 106. All are encouraged to attend. Officer board member Audra Delaney describes the meetings as a “place for people to help other people and also help themselves.”
The group can be contacted by email, where letter bundle requests are also accepted, at [email protected]; the group is found on Facebook as Campus Cursive at Bowling Green State University.
