(CU Independent Illustration/Sara Fossum)
Maciej Stachura, 28, Ryan Kobrick, 30, and Drew Turner, 26, are all doctoral candidates for aerospace engineering who are bringing a taste of Canada to campus.
Spurred by the lack of any organization that solely honors Canada on the CU campus, the three graduate students said they decided to start a club themselves: the Canada Club at CU, or CCCU, for short.
“I’m hoping that CCCU will provide a forum for Canadians and other foreign nationals alike to learn more about Canada and celebrate the country and its culture,” Turner said. “We’d like to raise awareness about Canada and just represent our country on campus.”
Stachura, Kobrick and Turner said that they thought now was the best time to launch CCCU because the Winter Olympics are currently taking place in Canada.
“I think the Olympics is a great showcase of a country and its culture, which is why I hope that timing CCCU’s founding with the Vancouver Olympics might work out well for our club,” Stachura said.
While Stachura, Kobrick and Turner are launching their club based on Canadian culture, Turner said they are by no means trying to force the culture on anyone.
“We aren’t asking for acknowledgment, but we would like to provide a group for CU’s Canadians to celebrate their heritage and for CU students of other nationalities to learn more about Canada, our home country of which we are very proud,” Turner said.
Stachura said the first official event was a party to watch the Canadian men’s hockey take on Norway at Harpo’s Sports Grill.
“We’re not planning on having regular meetings,” Stachura said. “We probably won’t always meet at Harpo’s; right now we’re just doing it for the hockey games.”
Kobrick said that the club seeks to gain members interested in Canada.
“Anyone can join the club, and any CU student can take leadership within [CCCU],” Kobrick said. “This is a brand new club, and there are no limits to what we can accomplish.”
Find out more about CCCU by visiting the club’s Facebook page or their Google group page.
Contact CU Independent Staff Writer Kenna Egbune at Ikenna.egbune@colorado.edu.
