The new Be Empowered club has found a home on the California Lutheran University campus, with a mission to inspire, uplift, encourage and empower individuals through activities and events that allow people to support one another. 

Cal Lutheran junior Kristen Case had the idea during summer 2019 and was able to get the club approved in time for this academic year.

The first semester of the club, time was spent planning the logistics of the club. But the second-semester goal is aimed at fostering community events.

Case said the people that she interacts with on a daily basis have really inspired her.

“It’s a club where people can grow and find power in themselves and believe they are strong,” Jordan Owen, club vice president said.

Case was inspired by a peer who attends Chapman University and created a club called “Chapman Strong.” She was motivated by the inclusivity and community that the club brought to the Chapman campus and wanted to bring that same opportunity to Cal Lutheran.

“What I like about this, is that it felt like a very welcoming environment,” Case said.

The club is open to any member of the Cal Lutheran community and they are attempting to find ways to include members of the Cal Lutheran  staff, Case said. Be Empowered is also aiming to ensure that it is especially inclusive of commuter students and is low commitment for students with  busy schedules.

In the future the club hopes to collaborate with college campuses surrounding Cal Lutheran including Pepperdine University, California State University, Channel Islands and Moorpark College. They also hope to grow the membership of their club in the future, as well as bring in guest speakers, Case said.

The club is focused on activity-based meetings and they have held events such as making vision boards to help with the stress of midterms and creating empowerment playlists. Some of the events they have planned in the near future include a hike to the cross, and a drop in event at Five07, Case said.

The goal of the club is to be very conversational and open which will be fostered through community events and meetings. Be Empowered hopes to bring everyone on campus into an even closer community than the campus already has.

Be Empowered hopes to set itself apart from the rest of the clubs on campus and provide an additional area of support for people on campus, Case said.

“I think sometimes we get so caught up in thinking about the future, or even the past sometimes that we lose fact of who we are sometimes, in the present,” co-president Tacie Johnson said.

Be Empowered also focuses on ensuring that people are being their most authentic self. It also aims to make sure that everyone feels comfortable in their own skin and gives students the tools to help them find that for themselves.

There is no set meeting time for the club, however they currently plan meetings as they see fit. Members can stay up to date on meeting information on the Be Empowered Instagram page, @beempoweredclu.

The club aims to ensure that students are able to set aside time for self care and self love. It also encourages people to build for themselves because each individual is so different, so what they need might be different from the next person, Johnson said.