New Campus Crafting Program Helps University Students Unwind and Connect

The Student Services Building lobby has been buzzing with activity as students gather around a button press machine, passing scissors and glue sticks and admiring each other's work. The program, named after the Union's unofficial mascot, traces its origins to a conference where Julie Wier, SSB and UA9 building manager, encountered colleagues who had successfully introduced crafting sessions on their own campuses.

"I was inspired by that. I didn't know that was something that existed," Wier said, adding that her immediate thought was how to make it work at UT. Sessions are held on Thursdays at 6 p.m. every two weeks, with activities so far including button making and pumpkin carving.

Wier described the crafts as accessible to any type of student, saying the emphasis is on the act of making something with your hands rather than on the finished product. At the first session, students created buttons using old scrapbook materials. Environmental engineering freshman McKinley Hatch said discovering how the button-making process worked was a genuine surprise. "I was like, 'Wow, that's really cool because it's so simple,'" Hatch said.

Building Community Through Crafting

University Unions executive director James Buckley said the sessions are designed to bring the campus's many different communities together in a structured setting. "It's an opportunity for students to get to know each other. You can come by yourself. You can come with friends, but there's a good chance you'll make a new friend while you're there," Buckley said.

As the exam period approaches, the collective is also positioning itself as a stress-relief outlet. Hatch said that studying alone in a room or a library can become overwhelming, and that attending the sessions has helped take her mind off midterms and regular coursework entirely.

Sessions Run Through December, Feedback Welcome

Craft sessions are currently scheduled through December 3. Organizers are open to adding new activities in the future and are considering a student survey to gather ideas. Wier said the goal is to maintain a consistent, casual event every other Thursday night that requires no prior art experience, where students can drop in, leave when they choose, and come alone or in a group.