At a family wedding during the cocktail hour, then-high school student Justin Horowitz thought of a crazy idea: a club all about cheese in college.
Created in the spring semester of this year, AU’s Cheese Club has grown rapidly in membership and recognition. Horowitz, the founder of the Cheese Club, is excited by the response the club has received.
During his freshman year, he enrolled in the pilot AUx program, the first-year course for freshmen to help them adjust to university life. His AUx instructor, now the Cheese Club’s advisor, mentioned that freshmen can create a student organization the second semester of their first year. Horowitz knew that he wanted to create this club, so he gathered his friends to create an executive board.
“I kind of thought it was a funny idea, I never really thought of a club being based off of cheese and how much it would really grow, but after he told me about it, it sounded really interesting,” said Anthony Baron, treasurer of the Cheese Club.
Both Baron and Horowitz weren’t sure how many people would be interested enough to attend the first meeting.
“Initially we had about 40 to 50 people that came to the first general body meeting,” Horowitz said. “I was pretty happy about that.”
Horowitz, excited about the first-time response, said it’s hard to believe that the club has now grown to about 270 students on their mailing list.
The Cheese Club doesn’t meet as frequently as other clubs, according to Horowitz, but when they do, a sampling of different cheeses, games (including bingo) and chances to meet new people are guaranteed.
“We usually have one cheese that everybody has heard of, like pepper jack or cheddar, and then one cheese that people probably don’t know about,” Horowitz said. “As everyone is finding out about new cheeses, we are, too.”
Baron said members had to pitch in money for the different cheeses last year, but now the club is funded by the AU Club Council, allowing them to supply more cheese for the growing number of members.
“I just want to make sure that everyone has a great time,” Horowitz said.
