LDOC, SoHo, FUSAB, RC, RLC—it’s safe to say that Furman loves acronyms, but sometimes a student can get lost in the sea of letters. But we’ve got the DL (that’s “down low”) on a few of these.
Religious Council, or RC, is one of the biggest organizations on campus. It’s made up of 21 members, who are each elected representatives from the 21 religious organizations on campus.
Furman has a wide range of spiritual clubs, from different denominations of Christianity to the Jewish and Muslim Student Associations, just to name a few.
“It shocks people to find out about the different groups, but it shows how diverse Furman is,” said RC’s president Drew Bongiovanni.
Bongiovanni is a senior Art History major with a passion for religion. She admits that she’s taken almost every religion course that Furman offers without being a major. Furman’s adjustment to a more varied student body and seeing the changes that have occurred since her freshman year is one of Bongiovanni’s favorite aspects of being a part of the Religious Council.
She became involved with RC at the end of her freshman year, when she was elected to be the representative for the Cooperative Student Fellowship, an ecumenical Protestant group that focuses on devotional fellowship. Being a representative helped her make connections and become increasingly active in the religious community.
As she has come into a leadership position within the Religious Council, Bongiovanni is particularly excited about the upcoming World Religions Symposium that the RC is a part of. This is a new event that is being hosted by a variety of organizations and people on campus and it consists of seven different CLP’s all focusing on Islam.
As one of the most important campus organizations, the Religious Council is excited to be involved in an event that encompasses so many different people from all over campus.
Another acronym organization is the Furman University Student Activity Board. FUSAB, as the group is better known, is the campus organization responsible for student favorites, such as Winter Wonderland, Homecoming, and the Haunted Trail.
The Haunted Trail is an event that was president Tyler Wilson’s brainchild. Wilson, along with close friend and fellow FUSABer Jeff Levene, came up with the idea and it’s become an integral part of Furman’s fall events.
Wilson, a senior Neuroscience major, became involved with FUSAB his freshman year when a hall staffer recommended it. Now in his final year at Furman, Wilson is passionate about FUSAB, and about their mission- to be a service organization to the students and enhance their experience at Furman.
As president, Wilson does his best to maintain an unbiased position so as to bring a well-rounded schedule of events to the Furman community. When Wilson was a freshman, then-President David E. Shi would read “‘Twas the Night Before Christmas” to the student body during the Winter Wonderland.
Now, as the traditions evolve, FUSAB is hoping to add a new event to the winter spectacle: a gingerbread house competition.
The 55 members of FUSAB are students who are interested in serving their peers, so events are constantly changing to accurately reflect what the current student body wants.
Wilson says, “I want the general student body to know we’re an open organization—our meetings are open so the voice of the student body can be heard”.
FUSAB meets every Tuesday at 6 p.m. in the Thomas Room. Wilson encourages anyone who is interested to come and sit in on a meeting. FUSAB is one of the organizations focusing on service to the students but not the only one.
Residential Life Council, or RLC, is accurately described as ‘behind the scenes.’ Day to day services that are provided for the students can usually be attributed to RLC.
President Julie Jarriel, a senior English major certifying in Secondary Education, puts the emphasis on the service aspect of RLC. “Our motto is ‘Where Services Meets Social.’ We’re responsible for a lot of services that most students don’t know RLC is behind.
“All of the newspapers around campus that are free for students, shuttle rides to the airport, therapy dogs and the RA office are all under the RLC umbrella,” said Jarriel.
Along with these services, the 44 members of RLC are actively working to design activities that will enhance resident life. One of their big goals this year is planning more events that will bring together South Housing and Lakeside together.
Jarriel, who has been involved with RLC since her freshman year, is responsible for overseeing RLC and also being a representative for the students to the official housing staff.
As with FUSAB, RLC is always open to new ideas from the student body. Jarriel says that RLC is lucky to have a wide range of places where they can be involved.
However, sometimes being visible everywhere means they get confused with FUSAB by the student body at large.