Officially approved by ASUPS on March 28, Campus Cursive revitalizes the art of letter writing and incorporates into it random acts of kindness throughout the campus.
Shelley Stephan, the founder of the club, was inspired to start this club during finals week her sophomore year.
“[I] stumbled upon the website moreloveletters.com, where posted on the website was a love letter to college students,” Stephan said.
Finding ease in conveying her own feelings by expressing herself through letters and journals, Stephan was touched by the genuine care expressed in the letter.
“I felt really encouraged and uplifted after,” Stephan said.
After visiting the site a second time to relieve stress in her junior year, Stephan discovered that Campus Cursive clubs were popping up all over colleges and high schools, spreading anonymous love letters all across the nation.
After doing a little more research, she decided that the University of Puget Sound’s campus could use more positivity and called the More Love Letters founders and asked to start a branch.
Rather than starting another network, app or forum, the founder of More Love Letters, Hannah Brencher, chose to start a love letter revolution after writing hundreds of love letters to people that were experiencing anything from the death of a family member to loneliness on a college campus.
As the winner for the Random Acts of Kindness Foundation, she continues to inspire writers world-wide and act as living proof that doing something as simple as writing a letter can uplift anyone’s day, and even save a life.
At their first informational meeting, attendees were thoroughly touched and excited by the club’s mission in spreading kind messages and using the art of letter writing to connect the campus.
In this generation where email and text messaging have become the main means of communication, letter writing has begun to sound like an out dated and slow form of communication that entails much more effort than necessary in conveying a message.
However, these handwritten letters, which students in the club have taken the time and effort to create, have taken this process and revitalized it as an art, sharing positive thoughts with strangers who might not even know they needed them.
You do not need to be a part of this club to help spread these wonderful messages, so do not be afraid to take initiative and write a love letter yourself!
A few themes that the club introduced for the letters include hope, encouragement, love, pick-me-ups, drawings, quotes and personal stories.
Letter writers in the club are reminded to keep it real and avoid “mushy gushy” letters that may make the receiver uncomfortable. Another thing the club emphasizes is that the writer keeps him- or herself anonymous.
Do not be surprised to find letters anywhere from trees to lounge seats to the bottom of your shoe!
The slogan “the world needs more love letters” could not be more true in every student’s darkest time: Finals Week.
All students are welcome to the campus-wide letter writing party held on the May 8 for a mass distribution of love letters during finals week, a time when anyone could use a little encouragement.
To send pictures of your found letters, find the dates for future letter writing events or learn more about the club, visit the University of Puget Sound Campus Cursive Facebook page or email Shelly Stephan at stephan.shelley@gmail.com.
Students interested in joining the movement and become a letter writers, they should email upscampuscursive@gmail.com to be put on the roster.
For further information on Campus Cursive, please visit their Facebook page at: www.facebook.com/universityofpugetsoundcampuscursive/.
