By: Chloe Kline, ’21 Staff Writer
With a complete restructure of the club currently underway, Freedom Rings has moved its club operations to Discord in an effort to connect with current and former club members.
Meetings for the foreseeable future will be held via online-only Discord’s voice and video chat room features. For club members who cannot make club meetings, the executive board is looking into creating a feature where said students can still participate in and be a part of the organization.
In addition, the server’s communication features are available 24/7 so club members can communicate and get to know one another outside of meetings, as well as read meeting minutes and have constant access to club announcements. There is also a separate alumni channel for former members who wish to still be involved with the club and its events.
“[Discord has] no member limit, it’s a free and trustworthy service, and ultimately allows there to be optimal member interaction during this time,” Carter James Kucier, a sophomore audio and music production major and club president, said. “It allows us to keep track of everyone’s class and involvement with the club, as well as things like their pronouns with the use of server roles, and has a great system of channels and categories that operate within a server.”
Despite COVID-19 halting many of their usual annual in-person events, Freedom Rings will be organizing new events for the future when in-person activities can resume. The club is still planning on holding its annual Trans Week event albeit with COVID precautions in place, including a socially distanced candlelight vigil for Trans Day of Remembrance.
“Freedom Rings is excited to announce that we will eventually be branching out in order to give back to, connect with, and to help the surrounding LGBTQ+ community off campus through events such as fundraisers and making care packages for trans shelters in Philly,” Kucier said.
Freedom Rings meetings are held at 9:15 p.m. every Tuesday night.