Available Activities

Community and Discussion

Delegate Council (DC)

Officers:

Helen Felbek – Polity President

El’ad Nichols-Kaufman – Polity Secretary

Songeun “Grace” Jang – Polity Treasurer

Ranna Kisswani – Polity Attorney

Rylee Bain – Polity Herald

The Delegate Council (DC) is the student government of St. John’s College, whose responsibilities include the representation of undergraduate student interests to the administration, the establishment and maintenance of formal channels of communication between the students and the faculty, the management of funds available to the Student Polity for clubs, activities and events, the sanctioning of all student clubs, organizations, committees, and activities, the creation and management of Polity Law, and the representation of the students of St. John’s College to the community outside the college. Here is a link to the DC’s SharePoint site with information on how to write a charter, budget, and audit, as well as copies of the event contract.

Important dates:

Delegate Elections (All Classes): August 29

FR Delegate and Officer Elections: December 5

Budget Submission Season: August 24 - September 7

Audit Submission Deadline: December 4

Student Committee for Instruction (SCI)

Co-Chairs: Catherine Greer (cegreer(at)sjc.edu), Sarah Thyer (sarah.thyer(at)sjc.edu)

The Student Committee on Instruction (SCI) is a student committee appointed by the Delegate Council to support and enrich the academic life of the college by seeking out student opinion on academic matters through weekly forums, serving as a liaison between the administration and the undergraduate students regarding the academic life at St. John’s, and hosting events such as All College Seminars, which allow all students at the college to come together in learning.

Alexander Hamilton Society

Archon: Luke Widenhouse (lswidenhouse(at)sjc.edu)

Vice Archon: Colin Josler (cmjosler(at)sjc.edu)

Treasurer: Adam Powers (ampowers(at)sjc.edu)

Are you interested in global affairs and national security? We are excited to launch the St. John’s College Chapter of the Alexander Hamilton Society (AHS). The Society is a non-partisan, not-for-profit, national organization that seeks to identify, educate, and launch young men and women into foreign policy and national security careers imbued with the Hamiltonian perspective of strong and principled American leadership in global affairs. Primarily through engaging in debate, our programming is critical to the intellectual and professional development of a new generation of American leaders. It also acts as a bridge for Johnnies to pursue internships, graduate programs, and professional opportunities in the worlds of academia, business, finance, policymaking, politics, and journalism.

Food Recovery Network

Archon: Madelyn Minor (meminor(at)sjc.edu)

Vice Archon: Luke Briner (lbriner(at)sjc.edu)

The Food Recovery Network aims to fight food waste and support communities by redistributing surplus food from kitchens to nonprofit food pantries. Currently we're working with the Dining Hall and The Lighthouse, a local homeless prevention support center. Please reach out if you're interested, any helping hand is truly appreciated!

Johnnies of Color (Santa Fe & Annapolis)

Archons: Stephanie Harris (syharris(at)sjc.edu), Linda Bellamy (lfbellamy(at)sjc.edu)

Our purpose is to provide a safe space for people of color on our campus to discuss current events on and off campus and what is happening in the world. We will hold monthly meetings on a topic prepared for entire polity. This will sometimes take the form of panels, open discussion, and/or seminars.

The club is not limited to only students of color, but we will put students of color at the center and educate and include the wider community—and we would like to do so with an open mind and open heart.

Orthodox and Catholic Fellowship

Archons: Elisabeth Crosby (emcrosby(at)sjc.edu)

Hello! We are the Orthodox and Catholic Fellowship. Our central activity is reading through some of the early Church Father’s and the Scriptures at a measured pace with plenty of discussion. Our focus will also include the lives of the Saints and early Church History, always keeping in mind the question, what is the Faith and how is it practiced? We also hope to dive deeper into the prayer life of the early Church, especially through practicing the Liturgy of The Hours. All are welcome and invited!

Óρθοδοξία(Orthodoxy): Right belief.
Kαθολικός(Catholic): Universal

Pangaea: International Student Club

Archon: Currently in search of new archons! Contact Rachelle Munsey (remunsey(at)sjc.edu) if interested.

Are you an international student, or interested in various cultures around the world? Do you want to meet other international students and hang out, but don’t know where you can find them? Now, there’s Pangaea: International Student Club! We hold the International Student Party every year and provide different events to share and explore each other’s cultures. If you have any good ideas for sharing your cultural experiences but don’t know what to do? Don’t hesitate to contact us! We will work on it together, and make it happen! This club is not confined to only internationals but is open to everyone, so join us!

Philautia

Archon: Currently in search of new archons! Contact Rachelle Munsey (remunsey(at)sjc.edu) if interested.

Formerly Pink Triangle, Philautia aims to create a safe community focused on supporting LGBTQ+ students on campus through social and educational events. Our name comes from the Greek word for self-regard, as we believe that being true to oneself is the ultimate way to love and take care of oneself. Though we focus on issues important to the LGBTQ+ community, all polity members, regardless of their identities, are welcome to attend our meetings!

Project Polity

Archon: Luke Briner (lbriner(at)sjc.edu)

Vice Archons: Kurtis Bleakley (kmbleakley(at)sjc.edu), Madelyn Minor (meminor(at)sjc.edu)

Project Polity works at actively engaging the Polity in meaningful service to both St. John’s College and the Greater Annapolis Community, as well as forging sustainable relationships between the two. This includes weekly tutoring at the Stanton center, yearly canned goods and clothing drives, and much more. Volunteers are always welcome.

Shammai

Archons: El’ad Nichols-Kaufman (eanicholskaufman(at)sjc.edu)

Shalom to all who may be reading this! Shammai is St. John’s Jewish campus club. We aim to build a strong community on campus by eating, talking, praying, studying and having fun together. Come join us at kabalat shabbat every Friday, or at one of our holiday celebrations, or study groups. We welcome all, whether Jewish, Jew-ish, or just curious about Judaism, to join us in our little community.

St. John’s Christian Fellowship

Co-Archons: Seneca Case (sscase(at)sjc.edu), Jackson Green (jcgreen(at)sjc.edu)

Jesus is the center of what we do and why we meet. At St. John’s, there are ample opportunities to experience Jesus. We seek to come alongside students so that they can get to know Jesus more deeply and build connections. We meet weekly to pray, worship, and dialogue together. Whether you feel like you know Jesus or not, are curious about what faith means or wondering about who God is, we invite you to come join us. You are welcome here and we look forward to meeting you!

The Business Club

Contact: Sam Soderlund (scsoderlund(at)sjc.edu)

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Publications

Energeia

Co-Archons: Allyson Brink (ambrink(at)sjc.edu), Kelly Kane (kmkane(at)sjc.edu)

Contact: energeia(at)sjc.edu

Instagram: @energeiasjc

Twitter: @energeiasjc

Energeia is the college’s official student-run literary and arts magazine. Our purpose is to provide a venue for creative expression through various media, including visual arts, creative written pieces—both fiction and non-fiction—and audio artworks, both musical and otherwise, along with a place to hone editing, selection, layout design, and other publication skills. And, finally, to share the polity’s artwork with the rest of the polity.

Energeia latest issue (PDF)

The GadFly

Co-Archons: Luke Briner (lbriner(at)sjc.edu)

Submissions: sjca.gadfly(at)gmail.com

The Gadfly is the college’s long running student newsmagazine. Founded in 1980 it has consistently provided a home for campus news, opinion, art, and culture. The magazine is published biweekly and is an excellent way for students to practice their writing and creativity in a public forum of real readership and impact. The Gadfly distributes at least 150 physical copies every printing cycle, is emailed to every student upon release, and is archived in the St. John’s College Digital Archives. It is a significant part of St. John’s history and its ongoing creation.

Historia

Archon: Georgia Green (gsgreen(at)sjc.edu)

Vice-Archon: Luke Briner (lbriner(at)sjc.edu)

An academic magazine that publishes student essays on Program or Program-adjacent books as well as interviews with faculty and staff.

814 Magazine

Archons: Cassie Desmond (crdesmond(at)sjc.edu)

814 Magazine is a photography publication that strives to present the analog and digital work of the student body in a way that represents the artist while simultaneously engaging the audience. If you love taking photos, come hang!

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Music and Dance

St. John’s Chorus

Archons: Catherine Row (ctrow(at)sjc.edu)

Vice Archon: Rachel Hauben (rphauben(at)sjc.edu)

The St. John’s Chorus is an ensemble conducted by our very own Mr. Peter Kalkavage (tutor) and is open to the entire polity, regardless of musical experience or background. We meet every Wednesday night in the Great Hall from 7-8:30 p.m. ET, learning a range of primarily sacred works to be performed at Collegium and at a formal concert in the spring. It is a wonderful thing to hear what our community sounds like together; with your diligence and heart we are capable of making some truly beautiful music.

Madrigal Choir

Contact: Mr. Eric Stoltzfus (eric.stoltzfus(at)sjc.edu)

Everyone (undergrads, GIs, tutors, staff, friends) is welcome to come sing every Tuesday at 11:45 a.m. in the Great Hall with the Madrigal Choir. This semester we have started with a setting of John I:1 by Josquin des Prez. We are also singing some chorales from various centuries, and other music for a cappella choir. There is room for singers in every voice part.

Sicut Sing

Meets in the Pendulum Pit every Wednesday at 2:20 p.m. to sing Sicut Cervus. Sheet music provided.

Student Jazz Coalition

Archon: Joshua Flippo (jdflippo(at)sjc.edu)

Vice Archon: Troy Herner-Brown (tahernerbrown(at)sjc.edu)

The Student Jazz Coalition is dedicated to the understanding of the craft of improvised music. It also provides free musical entertainment to the Polity.

Sinfonia

Archon: Antonina Schlussman (amschlussman(at)sjc.edu)

The purpose of Sinfonia is to enable St. John’s College students to attend live music performances for free! A week before each concert an email will be sent to the polity to raffle tickets. There will be 2-3 concerts per semester representing diverse genres. Please contact amschlussman(at)sjc.edu to suggest a concert prior to each semester. Note: concerts cannot take place on a weekend with a major campus event; tickets have to be $25 or less.

BAND: Baby in the b*tch seat

Archon: Ranger Kasdorf (rekasdorf(at)sjc.edu)

Baby in the B*tch Seat’s only goal is to get one of their songs stuck irrevocably in your head. Antonina sings, Ali plays guitar, Ranger plays bass, and Troy plays drums; together, they serve up catchy, noisy pop music that turns melody into a weapon. BBS are available for on-campus ragers, birthday parties, bar/bat mitzvahs, and study groups.

BAND: Dr. Funkenstein's Psychedelic Garage-Funk Experience (WIP)

Current Roster:

Hannah Chavers: lead vocals

Logan Arendt: lead guitar

Andrew Selway: rhythm guitar

John Teague: bass

Josh Flippo: keys

Christopher Turney: drums/percussion

Funk is the name of our game, but the sky's the limit. Famous for open mic performances and McDowell Live. Known to cover James Brown, Aretha Franklin, Thundercat, Daft Punk, Alanis Morissette, and ABBA. Also known to jam indefinitely...or at least until the audience passes out. Currently in the midst of songwriting and producing originals.

Contact Christopher Turney (cdturney(at)sjc.edu) for more info.

The Waltz Committee

Archon: Rebecca Hile (rehile(at)sjc.edu)

Vice Archon: Rachel Hauben (rphauben(at)sjc.edu)

Do you want to learn how to dance or add some groovy moves to your repertoire? We host dance lessons twice a week and throw awesome dance parties! We learn a bit of everything but primarily East Coast Swing. Waltz, Latin American dances, like Bachata, Merengue and Salsa, and many more are a sweet bonus. Where? Tuesday in the Great Hall at 8:30 p.m. Sometimes on the weekends too, so keep a lookout for specific emails!

Folk Life

Archon: Jordan Kammeyer (jtkammeyer(at)sjc.edu)

Folk Life is all about folk dance, singing, crafts, and other aspects of folk culture. We will have biweekly dances on Wednesday nights after St John's Chorus, where we will primarily contra dance and folk waltz, but may also dance polka, two-step, swing, and more!

Reality

Archons: Lainey Rendelman (lrendelman(at)sjc.edu), Keely Schrantz (kkschrantz(at)sjc.edu)

Reality is known around campus as being the life of the party. A lovely club with decades of history. This club might be for you if you enjoy event planning, decorating, and carrying on Johnnie tradition. We are always looking for more Reality members, so reach out if you are interested! Wouldn’t you like to know more?

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 Athletics and Fitness

Intramural Sports

Perhaps you prefer to participate in one of our historic intramural sports programs or maybe you just want more sports in your week! Intramurals, KUNAI, and pick-up sports are happening every day in your “backyard,” and yes, that’s back-campus! Every day… except Mondays and Thursdays when you should be doing your seminar reading, of course!

Co-ed Intramurals

Plan space in your week to play co-ed intramural ultimate frisbee, soccer, European Handball, Reasonball, Basketball, Volleyball and Netball with one of our five Historic Intramural teams –the Druids, Hustlers, Greenwaves, Guardians or Spartans! How do you get to be on a team? You are already there - you just need to show up! Find out what intramural team you have been drafted to for your first year at the Annapolis campus here. In your second year on the Annapolis campus, you will be drafted to a team for the rest of your time at the college and beyond!

• Spartans Captains: Frederic Duch Clerici (fduchclerici(at)sjc.edu), Songeun Jang (sjang2(at)sjc.edu), Chang Gyu (Elijah) Kim (ckim(at)sjc.edu)
• Guardians Captains: Oscar Gonzalez (ojgonzalez(at)sjc.edu), Oscar Miller (ojmiller(at)sjc.edu)
• Hustlers Captains: James Reeher (jareeher(at)sjc.edu), Georgia Galardi-Pittard (gsgalardipittard(at)sjc.edu), Ian Howell (irhowell(at)sjc.edu)
• Greenwaves Captains: Charlotte Nicholas (cinicholas(at)sjc.edu), Peter Quinn (pfquinn(at)sjc.edu), Marshall Cooperman (mpcooperman(at)sjc.edu)
• Druids Captains: Christopher Thomas (cthomas(at)sjc.edu), Hannah Fodor (hifodor(at)sjc.edu), Parth Bajaj (psbajaj(at)sjc.edu), Evan Hamilton (ehamilton(at)sjc.edu)

KUNAI

Our women and non-cis gendered intramural program! If you are a women or non-cis gender student who is interested in playing sports- this is a great place to look! During the fall season, join them on the upper or lower field to play soccer; during the winter, join them in the gym– with an emphasis on basketball and netball! With a mixture of scheduled round-robin tournaments – soccer and basketball highlighted-, open clinics and practices, as well as friendly scrimmages, they have your bases covered! The KUNAI captains redraft the teams for each tournament to encourage a level playing field and to give athletes the chance to meet more new people! Look out for updates and invitations via email to come and play!

Interested in learning more? Please reach out to our senior captains: Songeun (Grace) Jang (sjang2(at)sjc.edu) or Charlotte Nicholas (cinicholas(at)sjc.edu)

• Captains: Lindsay Irmiter (liirmiter(at)sjc.edu), Camilla Lopez (calopez(at)sjc.edu), Tamar Pinksky (tmpinsky(at)sjc.edu), Julia Ramirez (jsramirez(at)sjc.edu)

"Pick-Up"

Woah! Still need more sports! We’ve got you covered- look out for day-of email blasts to give you the scoop on the times for “pick-up”. Feel free to show up when you can and just play- no preset teams, no strings attached, no experience required. While it’s not an exact science – you’ll see a weekly rotation of invites for pick-up soccer, pick-up volleyball, and post- ‘nar basketball coming to your inbox.

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Intercollegiate Sports

Peruse our intercollegiate quartet – crew, sailing, fencing, and croquet! These groups meet twice or thrice weekly to practice and prepare for competition at the club level against other colleges!

St. John’s College Crew

Captains: Peter Boersema (paboersema(at)sjc.edu), Hannah Chavers (hlchavers(at)sjc.edu), Adam Francavilla (agfrancavilla(at)sjc.edu)

The St John’s Crew team is one of the college’s intercollegiate sports teams. We welcome people of any skill level! Whether you’ve been rowing for years, or never set foot in a boat before, we encourage you to come out and row with us! The crew team is a fun, close knit community that encourages people to become better rowers. Towards the end of the fall semester, the crew team attends several rowing regattas, which always turn out to be incredible experiences.

St. John’s College Croquet

Co-Archons: Madison Grohman (megrohman(at)sjc.edu), Angus Preston (awpreston(at)sjc.edu)

Contact: wickets(at)sjc.edu

The SJC Croquet Team has the (unofficial) title of best collegiate croquet team in the world, and more importantly we have a tendency to BEAT NAVY in the long tradition of the Annapolis Cup Croquet Match every spring! But if you ask the team, they will tell you it’s just good fun. The team is a family, and we love to hang out, and we just happen to play croquet (very well) while we do it.

St. John’s College Fencing Union

Archons: Angus Preston (awpreston(at)sjc.edu), Henry Stockman (histockman(at)sjc.edu)

Vice-Archon: Erin Allen (eballen(at)sjc.edu)

The SJCFU is one of the four intercollegiate sports on campus. Students of all experience levels are welcome! Come down to the Temple to try your hand with one (or all!) of the three modern fencing weapons: foil, épée, and saber. Our team competes in the Baltimore-Washington Collegiate Fencing Conference, and all fencers interested in competing attend several tournaments throughout the year. We practice year-round @ 6:30p on Tuesdays and Fridays, as well as Saturday mornings for more individual instruction.

St. John’s College Sailing Team

Captain: Madelyn "Maddog" Minor (meminor(at)sjc.edu)

Captain: Reagan "Regatta" Bottomley (rmbottomley(at)sjc.edu)

Captain: Ian "Gunwhale" O'Donnell (imodonnell(at)sjc.edu)

We're here to sail boats, learn funny words, and port-tack the fleet. The less experience the better. Two+ regattas, probably; 10/10 doctors agree that bowlines are better than square knots. Wanna know why it's called a boom? Come to the Hodson Boathouse any non-seminar weekday at 4 and we'll show you the ropes!

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Athletics Related Clubs

While these clubs are funded by Student Delegate Council, they often share the gym and field spaces or borrow athletic equipment which is not guaranteed and need to be approved by the Athletic Coordinator, Rachel Fleming. Student archons for these groups are asked to reach out to coordinate the use of the Iglehart gym, the upper and lower fields, the Hodson Boathouse, and athletic equipment that may be of use. (Ms. Fleming drives a hard bargain and makes no promises so bring your game face and take no prisoner’s attitude.)

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu

Archon: Xiaochen (Daniel) Deng (xdeng(at)sjc.edu)

Jiu-Jitsu, translated as “the gentle art,” is a grappling-based martial arts system that focuses on controlling and resisting an opponent in order cause them to submit. It is very useful in self-defense situations for a smaller/weaker person to resist and out maneuver a larger attacker. As with most martial arts, Jiu-Jitsu values honor, respect, and safety. It is a great way to build discipline of mind and body. No experience is required. All are welcome to have fun and learn this beautiful art. (Some call it Human Chess).

Futsal

Archon: Frederic Duch Clerici (fduchclerici(at)sjc.edu)

Historical European Martial Arts Club (HEMA)

Archons: Tuyết-Nhi Nghiêm (ttnghiem(at)sjc.edu), Augustus Pananas (gapananas(at)sjc.edu), Micah Warren (mwarren(at)sjc.edu)

HEMA Club studies the style of sword fighting used by Medieval Europeans. We practice and fence with both synthetic and steel swords. We try to balance the club as both a serious martial art and a space to just have a fun time and release some tension! The archons are always open to having additional sparring/practice sessions upon member requests.

Q: What swords and schools will we be teaching?

A: We will work through Fiore dei Liberi's manual, "The Flower of Battle: MS Ludwig XV13" throughout the year, starting with grappling and dagger units to build good habits and foundations for working with longsword. If extra time is available, we will also practice MS.I33 arming sword and buckler.

Johnnies Sports Polity Network (JSPN)

Archons: Isaac Boone (ijboone(at)sjc.edu), Lainey Rendelman (lrendelman(at)sjc.edu)

We are a new club called JSPN (Like ESPN but Johnnie). Our main aim is to host sports-related watch parties and to discuss sports with other Johnnies. Events may include Superbowl parties, March Madness, and other major sporting events.

Outdoors Club

Archon: Joshua Flippo (jdflippo(at)sjc.edu)

St. John’s College Polo Club

Archon: Reagan Bottomley (rmbottomley(at)sjc.edu)

Equestrian club for riders of all skill levels, where members can improve their riding skills and learn the legendary sport of polo. Basic English riding and polo lessons are both taught.

Rock Climbing Club

Archon: Kat Bates (kmbates(at)sjc.edu)

The rock-climbing club climbs one or twice a week at Columbia Movement, an indoor gym with beautiful bouldering and top rope routes. Every single level of experience is welcome and encouraged. Come learn and make epic sends with us!

Swim Club

Archon: Seneca Case (sscase(at)sjc.edu)

On Tuesday nights, from 8-9p, we head over to the Arundel Olympic Swim Center, to have a nice long swim and a soak in a good ol' jacuzzi hot tub. If you have an affinity for H2O or just need a relaxing float to destress after a long day, come join us for a swim! Reach out to our archon and we'll get you squared away.

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Fitness Classes, Gym, and Boathouse Hours

Don’t forget about our fitness classes: yoga, weight training, and running groups to name a few! Make sure to check your college email inbox and the Athletics Bulletin Board in the coffee shop to get up to date schedules for these session-based programs.

Standard school year gym and boathouse hours—contact Rachel Fleming with questions (check your email for updated hours during long weekends, Thanksgiving, Winter Break, Spring Break, and Summer Break):

• Monday: 7 a.m.—11:59 p.m.
• Tuesday and Wednesday: 7 a.m.—10 p.m.
• Thursday: 7 a.m.—11:59 p.m.
• Friday: 7 a.m.—7 p.m.
• Saturday and Sunday: 9 a.m.—8 p.m.

Boathouse Hours for Recreational Use—contact John Wagner with questions

• Tuesday and Wednesday: 4—6 p.m.
• Friday: 4—6:00 p.m.
• Saturday: 9 a.m.—12 p.m.

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Theater, Story, and Film

The King William Players

Archon: Jordan Kammeyer (jtkammeyer(at)sjc.edu)

Vice Archon: Jack Domanski (jhdomanski(at)sjc.edu)

Secretary: Magnolia Vandiver (mrvandiver(at)sjc.edu)

Treasurer: Mirek Jungr (mjungr(at)sjc.edu)

Instagram: @kingwilliamplayers

Facebook: King William Players Facebook

KWP is the resident theater company of St. John’s College and is responsible for producing, rehearsing and performing all theatrical endeavors which occur on campus, open to both the polity and the general public. We typically produce three to six shows a year. Those involved in KWP span a range of theatrical interests, and we welcome actors, directors, and techies alike.

Fall 2023 Shows

Small Project (November) - “The Duchess of Malfi” directed by Jack Domanski

Lecture Slot (December) - “The Importance of Being Earnest” directed by Caleb Briggs

Too Much Light Makes The Baby Go Blind

Archon: Ranger Kasdorf (rekasdorf(at)sjc.edu), KC Taylor (kctaylor(at)sjc.edu)

Description: 30 plays in 60 minutes. First, we write, then we perform. Funny? Cringey? Horrifying? Hopefully all of the above. Come if you enjoy writing plays and seeing them brought to life! Come if you want to act! Come if you have a ridiculous idea you want to force your friends to perform! Everyone is welcome.

Storyteller’s Guild

Archon: Valentine Lamb (aglamb(at)sjc.edu)

Vice Archons: Charles Dang (cedang(at)sjc.edu), Max Dreyfuss (mcdreyfuss(at)sjc.edu)

The Storyteller’s Guild is a fairly low-key club that meets on Wednesday evenings to read and listen to short stories, books, poems, and whatever else people want to read. This year, we’re excited to be back in the Chasement with milk, cookies, and a fire in the colder months.

The Platonic Players

Archon: KC Taylor (kctaylor(at)sjc.edu)

The Platonic Players is returning to St. John’s to provide a platform for the polity to write, act, and enjoy musical theatre. The 2023–24 season will include a small cabaret event and a small ensemble musical in the winter, and a large musical in the spring.

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Arts and Games

3D Printing Club

Archon: John Hollowed (jhhollowed(at)sjc.edu)

3D printing club seeks to benefit the polity and its clubs by providing 3D printing services. Many small plastic objects, from tabletop minis to insect feeders, are more expensive than they ought to be and we’re here to alleviate some of the financial burden on clubs and the polity. Additionally, in keeping with the liberal arts spirit of the college, the club lies at the intersection of art and science combining both a modern technology with the age-old tradition of creating art in three dimensions. Come to one of our meetings if you’re interested in printing something yourself, asking for something to be printed, or just learning how it all works!

Board Game Club

Archons: Peter Boersema (paboersema(at)sjc.edu), Noah Navarro (nmnavarro(at)sjc.edu)

A relaxed weekly gathering for people who love to play board games. Play old favorites and discover new ones! Players of all levels of experience welcome.

Join our Discord server where you can:

• Get info regarding online and in-person gaming opportunities
• Organize/participate in TTRPG campaigns and one-shots
• Stay informed about special events
• Talk about board games!

Chess club

Archon: Connor Robinson (clrobinson(at)sjc.edu)

Whether you just want to play a few games or learn the game better, chess club offers a space for players of all levels. Feel free to come even if you don’t have experience, and we will teach you the basics.

Darkroom Lounge

Archon: Cassie Desmond (crdesmond(at)sjc.edu)

Darkroom Lounge is a place where you can escape the homework grind each week and get some experience developing and printing your own film. We’ll lend cameras to students who need one and then teach you to process your own 35mm photos.

Juggling Club

Archon: Troy Herner-Brown (tahernerbrown(at)sjc.edu)

Learn how to juggle, all skill levels welcome from expert to absolute beginner. We meet on the Quad at 4:30 p.m. every Wednesday.

Purls of Wisdom Club

Archon: KC Taylor (kctaylor(at)sjc.edu)

Purls of Wisdom is a club dedicated to crafts, with an emphasis on fiber arts—knitting, crocheting, embroidery—but welcome to other crafts as well! Its goal is to provide resources to students as well as be a fun and safe space to spend time with fellow artists!

Video Game Club

Archon: Thomas Robinson (tbrobinson(at)sjc.edu)

Vice-Archon: Zarian Lovelle (zslovelle(at)sjc.edu)

Video Game Club is back this year with two Xbox Ones and dreams. We plan on hosting weekly tournaments of various games such as Rocket League and Mortal Kombat. There will be gamer snacks and prizes for the winners.

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Culinary

Baking Club

Archons: Regan Yang (rsyang(at)sjc.edu), Henry Zheng (hzheng(at)sjc.edu)

Vice Archon: Grace Jang (sjang2(at)sjc.edu)

After hours of Greek and Euclid, calculus and French, or even just the usual interesting-but-sometimes-confounding seminar readings, it’s always fun to put work aside and make something to treat yourself! Baking Club is a place students come to take a break from their rigorous schoolwork and have fun in the kitchen.

Tea Eaters Association (TEA)

Archon: Daniel Redish (dsredish(at)sjc.edu)

If you want to hang out with a bunch of tea lovers, then come and drink with us!

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Nature

Garden Club

Archon: Dolan Polglaze (dcpolglaze(at)sjc.edu)

Our Garden Club aims to unite the campus through community nurturing and harvesting. Our plot will be receiving some much-needed TLC after a difficult past year. Help us grow herbs, fruits and beautiful flowers for the campus to enjoy! Our ultimate goal is to foster a peaceful and thriving space where our community can sit still and relax, while connecting with nature. Whether you want to come every week to do some weeding, or just show up once to pick some berries, everyone is welcome in our plot!

Insect Farming

Archons: Louis Rosenberg (lrrosenberg(at)sjc.edu), Tabby Rutledge (tkrutledge(at)sjc.edu)

Instagram: @insectsjc

Do you like bugs? Do you like reading about bugs?? Do you like caring for and breeding bugs??? Come join the SJC Insect Farming Club! We’ll meet weekly in Mellon—contact the archons for specifics—to share our passion for bugs and take care of some ourselves!

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Academic Assistance

You can reach a student assistant and receive help in a specific subject using the following email addresses, and their hours can be found pasted on the McDowell Coffeeshop blackboard next to the event calendar:

• Writing assistance:    Annapolis.WritingAssistance(at)sjc.edu
• French assistance:     Annapolis.FrenchAssistance(at)sjc.edu
• Math assistance:         Annapolis.MathAssistance(at)sjc.edu
• Greek assistance:       Annapolis.GreekAssistance(at)sjc.edu

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Study Groups (2023-2024)

Hermetica

Reading and analyzing classic occult texts. Contact: Tabby Rutledge (tkrutledge(at)sjc.edu)

French Conversation

Contact: Victoria Horsman (vhorsman(at)sjc.edu)

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Inactive Clubs

The following is a list of recent clubs in the past few years, which have become inactive or whose leadership has recently graduated. For assistance in restarting one of these clubs or identifying yourself as its current archon, contact Community Facilitator for Student Activities and Events Rachelle Munsey.

The Epoch Journal

The Epoch Journal is the nonpartisan, long form, opinion journal on campus. Simply put, our goal is to show some of the best work members of the polity can write on the (broadly interpreted) categories of Culture, Politics, and Foreign Affairs. We are looking for writers, editors, and designers for the coming year. Your entrance essay is likely a good candidate for submission, so don’t delay!

Film Society

Foundational Hermetic Texts Reading Group

 Contact: Tabby Rutledge (tkrutledge(at)sjc.edu) 

St. John’s Orchestra

We welcome all instruments at all skill levels to our casual group for the purpose of making and enjoying classical music together.

Orchesis

Orchesis is a dance crew at St. John’s that focuses on hip-hop, ballet, and contemporary dance. We teach both original and cover dances to dancers of all levels. No experience required.

Peliculemos

Spanish Films and Culture Club

sewing, mending, & Fashion Club

A space for students of all levels of sewing ability to be creative together. The archons will be available during meetings to help other students mend their own clothes or create something new. We are focused mainly on assisting students to mend their old clothes, altering their clothes to fit better, sewing new clothes, drafting patterns for clothing, and fashion design. We will also have sewing kits available to be lent out to students as a library system.

Yearbook

Instagram: @sjcyearbook

The St. John’s College annual publication for students, by students. All things writing, photographing, layouting, and publishing. We are hoping to provide a way for graduating students to memorialize their time at St. John’s College.

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Inactive Study Groups

This is a sampling of the recent study groups from last year. Once the Fall 2023 semester begins, we will update with current offerings. If you’d like to start your own study group and have it added here, contact Community Facilitator for Student Activities and Events Rachelle Munsey.

Chinese Philosophy

Contact: Kurtis Bleakley (kurtis.bleakley(at)sjc.edu)

We will be reading selections from, or the entirety of, The Analects, The Tao/Dao, The I Ching, The Zhuangzi, the Hanfeizi, as well as various shorter philosophical stories from an anthology I got from the library. If there are not enough copies available from 2 the library for the books, I will endeavor to find PDFs online so we can all enjoy the wonders of Chinese philosophy.

Coding Study Group

Archon: Alexander Williams (awillliams(at)sjc.edu)

Want to teach yourself to code? Already worked as a full-time professional programmer? Want to work in the tech world when you graduate? Or maybe you’re just intellectually curious about all that runs underneath our modern world? Then just bring your laptop, drop by every now and then, see what other people are doing! Ask questions, start a conversation, write a few lines of code yourself, sit among your fellow Johnnies, coding, enjoying a cup of coffee for an hour or two once in a while. Whether you are seeking entertainment, refreshment, excitement or enlightenment, let’s help each other, form the habit, and learn the skill!

French Conversation

Contact: Cristopher Ford (cbford(at)sjc.edu)

If you love the sound of French words rolling off your tongue and want to get better at Junior and Senior language, venez ici et parlez francais. Meets Tuesdays at 3:45 p.m. in McDowell Hall, Room 22.

German Study Group

Led by: Samuel Soderlund

If you want a leg-up in your music classes next semester, then this is the study group for you! As you should know, in second semester you will be poring over Bach’s St. Matthew Passion, which is written entirely in German. Imagine yourself listening to your homework for tomorrow, discovering the repeated alignment of a perfect cadence and “some German word.” Then, realizing you don’t know German, you spend the next half hour scouring the English translation for a word that sounds “close enough” to this mysterious German word (trust me, it can happen). This club is aimed towards rising Sophomores, but everyone is invited, student and tutor alike! This will help you grasp the very basics of the German language: enough to recognize the grammar and most of the vocabulary which you will be hearing. We will be meeting for about 1–2 hours per week (exact dates TBD), so most of the learning will be dependent on how many hours you decide to put in. If you are interested, please reach out to me at scsoderlund(at)sjc.edu.

Jane Austen Study Group

Open to students and faculty.

Maimonides’ “Guide to the Perplexed” Study Group

Contact: El’ad Nichols-Kaufman

Medieval Philosophy Study Group

We will explore questions of ethics, psychology, metaphysics, and theology through writers from the beginning to the end of the period.

Metaphmorpheses Latin Reading Group

Contact: Mr. Nicholas Bellinson (nicholas.bellinson(at)sjc.edu)

It is said (fama est) that a number of people on campus would like the opportunity to read some Latin. This year I’ll be organizing an informal weekly meeting where we’ll sight-read a section of Ovid’s Metamorphoses. We’ll start from the beginning (proemium and creation of the world) in the first meeting and aim to read roughly one story per meeting. Anyone who wants to join is welcome (undergraduate, GI, faculty, staff) and no particular background is required—though I do recommend that you have at least a little experience reading Latin poetry. Anyone who wants to prepare, may, but I won’t expect that you do so; I’ll try to have answers to questions you might have about vocabulary and grammar. Bring a Latin dictionary if you like, and any Latin edition of the Metamorphoses, but don’t bring the Loeb or any other facing-page edition—lest you, like Actaeon, find yourself looking where you shouldn’t. Please email Mr. Bellinson if interested.

Philosophy of Science Study Group

Contact: Troy Herner Brown (tahernerbrown(at)sjc.edu)

This semester I will be holding a study group on the philosophy of science in the 20th century. We will be reading three renowned thinkers, Karl Popper, Thomas Kuhn, and Paul Feyerabend, all of whom are trying to answer one big question: what is science, and how does it differ from nonscience? I’d encourage you to seek out physical copies, but PDFs of all the readings will be provided.

Postmodern Literature

Postmodernism is a philosophical and artistic movement that rose to prominence in the latter half of the 20th century. The term was coined by Philosopher Jean-Francois Lyotard, who said postmodernism could most simply be defined as “incredulity toward meta-narratives”. Starting next semester, I would like to focus on postmodern fiction (see below for a list of potential readings). But over the break I will be hosting a series of online discussions on the aforementioned philosopher Lyotard’s influential book: The Postmodern Condition. If you are interested in joining, please contact me at tahernerbrown(at)sjc.edu.

Queer Theory Study Group

We will explore questions of gender identity and sexuality through writers from the late 20th century onward.

Quran Study Group

Contact: Ranna Kisswani (rkkisswani(at)sjc.edu)

Syriac Study Group

Led by: Henry Hills (hdhills(at)sjc.edu), Peter Boersema (paboersema(at)sjc.edu)

Peace to you all from Henry Hills and Peter Boersema, students of St. John’s School Annapolis,

We would like to announce that the Syriac Study Group will be returning this upcoming semester to St. John’s College Annapolis. Huzzah! Those with no experience in Syriac are encouraged to come - we plan to start from the basics. Syriac, a dialect of Aramaic, was a lingua franca of the Near East from around the 1st century through the 9th century AD. This
period saw the rise of Christianity and many subsequent theological debates. Notable Syriac works include the Peshitta (the Holy Bible of the Syrian tradition) and the poetry of St. Ephrem the Syrian, one of the greatest poet-theologians of all time. If you would like to take a look at Christianity from a perspective different than the classic western one we get from the likes of Thomas Aquinas and St. Augustine (wink wink, upcoming sophomores), you should consider joining us!

If you are interested or have any questions, don’t hesitate to contact Henry Hills or Peter Boersema.

Talmud Study Group 

Contact: El’ad Nichols-Kaufman (eanicholskaufman(at)sjc.edu) 

World’s First 15-Minute Reading Group

Contact: Aaron Shelsby (agshelsby(at)sjc.edu), Max Mersmann-Jones (mcmersmannjones(at)sjc.edu).

Do you want more art and conversation in your life but don’t have the free hours each week you would need to commit to a reading group? Now there’s a better way. Each Saturday you get a short poem in your email, each Friday you discuss it at 3:45 p.m. on the quad (until it gets too cold) for 15–30 minutes, depending on the flow of the conversation. We’d like to cover as wide a range of poetry as possible and will take suggestions frequently. Add yourself to the email list by contacting either Aaron Shelsby or Max Mersmann-Jones .

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