One of the longest-running clubs at Bradley University is one you ironically might have never heard of.
Bradley’s History Club was revived this year by Gloria Rousseau, a junior with a double major in history and secondary education. Along with Rousseau as the club’s president, Yoana Trendafilova, a junior with a history and political science double major, and Lia Znaniecki, a junior with a double major in history and secondary education, helped with the revival.
“The History Club is a club for people who enjoy history, and we do pretty much whatever we want as long as it relates to history,” Rousseau said. “So we’ve had speakers, we’ve talked about doing movie nights and we play games.”
After the club’s inactivity, Rousseau, along with the club’s co-founders, Trendafilova and Znaniecki, decided to revive it, giving students a place to share common interests. Bradley’s History Club provides students with a space where they can share their passions and interest in history with others.
According to freshman secondary education and history major Gabe Johnson, the club is welcoming to members with a passion for history where they’re heard. This feeling of acceptance is something Johnson said that he can’t find anywhere else.
“Most of the other things I’m involved in, none of the people are really into history,” Johnson said. “I’m in some things for the music department, and everything there is centered around music. I talk to anyone about history, and they’re just kind of shrugging it off because they don’t like it. Meanwhile, here I can share my passion and people show genuine interest.”
The club’s activities so far have included games such as “Jeopardy!” for Women’s History Month and PowerPoint presentations on historical topics. Further ideas Rousseau has mentioned for the club’s future include field trips around Peoria and taking closer looks at the history of both the city and the Hilltop.
On top of being open to any majors, the club’s meetings also reflect this same inclusivity, as the majority of the meetings are tailored to what everyone wants to do as opposed to being set on a particular schedule.
The History Club meets every first and third Monday of each month at 8 p.m. in Bradley Hall Room 100. For its next meeting, the club will host Bradley history professor Libby Tronnes as guest speaker at 7:30 p.m. on April 18 at Bradley Hall Room 100.
