Explore the club creation process with the Irish Dance Club

MSU boasts over 200 registered student organizations (RSOs), commonly known as clubs. These clubs range in interest and affiliation from Disc Golf to MSU’s chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association — and the soon-to-be Irish Dance Club (IDC). According to the Office of Student Engagement’s (OSE) website, clubs provide students the opportunity to pursue shared interests and get involved on campus.

Starting a club begins at the OSE, which serves as a resource for students looking to get involved around campus, according to its website. RSO Program Manager Erin Bolger said creating a club is quite simple.

“If there is not a club that you see on CatsConnect but you really want to join a club, let's get one started,” she said, explaining that there are a set of requirements students need to meet to register a club. Once a new club is registered, the OSE provides resources for funding and management.

To register, each club needs to define its purpose or mission, have at least seven student members, have a president, retain a faculty or staff advisor and align with University policies, according to Bolger. Once these requirements are met, the next step is to create a CatsConnect page, which shows all of the registered clubs on campus, when they meet and other useful information, she said.

According to Bolger, the OSE provides free poster distribution and printing, leadership opportunities and events, reservation of the SUB ballrooms and free graphic designs for club logos on top of funding assistance.

The next addition to MSU’s wide array of clubs will be the IDC. Founder and kinesiology student Maeve Mackin said the club’s status is almost official and explained how simple it was to start.

“It’s honestly not as hard as I thought,” she said. The process included creating an Instagram for the club and hanging flyers around campus. Once the club is officially created, meetings for IDC will be held two to three times each month, according to Mackin.

Mackin — who has been dancing for 12 years —  said that she fell in love with Irish dance from the start but stopped dancing when she came to MSU. Her father grew up in Ireland and passed the culture, including Irish dancing, onto his children. Mackin explained that Irish dancing was all she did growing up.

Mackin said that she and two of her friends, who were also involved in Irish dancing, have missed it since coming to Bozeman.

“There's not many opportunities for Irish dance in Montana. There's no school in Bozeman,” said club member Lindsey Frishmuth. According to Mackin, this is what inspired her to start the IDC.

Mackin said she wants to keep the IDC light and welcoming. “Honestly, just have fun,” she said.

Mackin wants to share her passion, regardless of others’ dancing experience. “There's a couple of people who have reached out who have never done Irish dancing,” she said. Just moving and listening to good music is a huge aspect of the dance practices, according to Mackin.

“It's a great way to get active," Frishmuth said. Both beginner and advanced dancers are invited. Basic Irish dance steps will be taught as well as group dances called a ceili. According to Mackin, the club not only aims to teach people Irish dance but also Irish culture and history.

Mackin said that in the future, she hopes that the club will be able to perform for MSU in the Collegiate Irish Dance Association (CIDA). With chapters present on many U.S. college campuses, CIDA aims to promote Irish dance to college students, according to its website.

“I’m excited to have the opportunity to get back into dancing,” said Frishmuth. She said she is looking forward to the chance to meet other students with an interest in Irish dance.

To learn more about starting a club, visit https://www.montana.edu/engagement/student-organizations/registration/index.html.

To get involved with the IDC, check out its Instagram @msuirishdanceclub.