Fan Society at Baruch College is a new club that hopes to bring students together over a shared love of music, regardless of artist or genre.

The club held its first general interest meeting on April 20 in the Newman Vertical Campus building where its board members introduced themselves and the club’s main goals.

“Our motivation for starting the club initially came from the fact that Khushi, [FSB’s president]and I met through music fandoms,” FSB’s vice president Sonia Kalo said.

Khushi Gupta and Kalo met in class when Gupta noticed Kalo’s Harry Styles’ “Love on Tour” tote bag. Their mutual love for the popstar brought them together.

With Gupta and Kalo’s newfound friendship forming due to the “Watermelon Sugar” singer, they felt there wasn’t a space at Baruch for people to connect over music.  So, they decided to create one.

After  FSB treasurer Rupinder Kaur and FSB secretary Raven Harvey got on board, the girls formed a club that they believed would help foster a sense of community over a shared love of celebrated artists. They hoped the club would allow for introductions to new genres and artists that students might not have considered otherwise.

The meeting started with a short poll to see what genres everyone listened to, “pop” coming in first with some of the top artists and genres being Taylor Swift, Harry Styles and K-Pop.

The club hopes to foster a “fandom” energy and allow students to feel comfortable discussing their favorite artists with their peers without fear of judgment. .

In an interview with Variety, psychiatrist Dr. Sudeepta Varma noted that fandoms are used to foster community and allow fans to feel part of something bigger than themselves. “A common shared interest brings people together, Varma said. “To me, that’s a positive thing.”

FSB shares the same notion through their mission statement:  “Exploration, Conversation, Celebration.”

While the club is not catered toward a specific fandom, genre or artist, its board members hope  members will have opened their minds to new artists they wouldn’t have previously considered by the end of the semester.

“As a fan, I really enjoy listening to music and talking about it and connecting with others,” prospective member Jennifer Wan said. “I hope that, in the future, the club can expand beyond music and to other media and fandoms that people like.”

The club also has open positions for members who wish to join the Fan Society board. Among these positions are chairs of events, social media coordinator, content creator, assistant treasurer, chair of outreach, marketing committee and events committee.

There will be an interview process for each position conducted this semester, but the chosen candidates will not start their roles until the Fall 2023 semester.

During the GIM, the board also held a “Playlist Party,” where the club encouraged students to share their Spotify or Apple Music playlists with one another to help gain a sense of which genres everyone enjoyed.

After a brief intermission for mingling and introductions, the board members posed the idea of creating a “GIM No. 1” playlist where any artists or songs mentioned would be included and then shared with the members.

One member suggested creating a Spotify collaborative playlist, where users can add, remove or even duplicate songs on a joint playlist that could be played  during future club meetings.

“It can be hard to make friends in such a large college or find the courage to tell someone you like their tour shirt or tote bag,” Kalo said. “Having this space can really add to the student life at Baruch.”

FSB’s next event is a “Spill the Tea” meeting in collaboration with Baruch’s Books and Beyond club on April 27.