The symbol of rising from the ashes applies to more at Elon University than the fire in 1923 and rebuilding that followed. 

Elon’s Chinese Club was born out of several failed attempts and a global pandemic. Now, the club hosts a variety of Chinese cultural events — positively impacting students and the Elon community. 

The club hosts many events throughout the year to expose the Elon community to Chinese culture. Featured events include the Mid-Autumn Festival, Lunar New Year, Dumplings Across Cultures event with the Italian club and Latinx-Hispanic Union, karaoke and game night events, calligraphy nights and study abroad information sessions about Chinese-speaking countries. 

Founded in 2020, the Chinese club had to navigate finding its footing on campus and the COVID-19 global pandemic. Charles Purrington ’22 was the club’s first president and said the group found a way to connect despite the pandemic.

“A lot of the early parts of the club were on Zoom because of COVID,” Purrington said. “We really only had a couple events, maybe some movie nights.” 

Chinese Professor Binnan Gao has been the club’s adviser since the beginning. Gao said she felt the Chinese program needed a club the way many other language programs at Elon have, such as  Italian, French and German. Gao said she encouraged the students even through several failed club proposals.

“I think it's a result of both me encouraging them and then they are realizing, ‘Oh, they need a club where they can form community of learning and also connecting,’” Gao said. 

The Chinese club is not the only club to focus on Asian culture, as Elon also has an Asian Pacific Student Association that hosts regular events. While the two clubs collaborate on major events like the Lunar New Year, they are very different, according to the club’s vice president of communications senior Bryn Hall. 

“We centralize more on Chinese culture itself,” Hall said. “Chinese club focuses more on Chinese language, Chinese culture, traditions, holidays and things like that.”

Club president senior Nicholas Rugbart said the club is meant for anyone to learn about Chinese culture. 

“You could just simply be interested in Chinese food, and that's enough,” Rugbart said. “No one's going to discriminate against you by your ability to speak, or not speak, Chinese.”

For sophomore Helena Hanzal Childress, the Chinese club helped them find a community with a common interest and learn more about Chinese culture. 

“It's helped me find more people that I can both practice speaking Chinese with, I've made some friends there and just kind of getting more information on Chinese culture and learning kind of more about that,” Childress said. 

Beyond impacting the students attending events, Purrington, Rugbart and Hall all mentioned the positive effects of serving on the club’s executive board  — for Purrington, it improved his communication skills; for Rugbart, it gave him a sense of belonging and pride; and for Hall, it improved her leadership skills. 

“It's something that I'm gonna remember even when I graduate,” Rugbart said. “I was a part of this club, I'm able to make my difference through my contributions, leadership roles and study abroad and awareness.”

Hall and Rugbart said they believe the Chinese club has helped the Elon community become more exposed to and educated on Chinese culture. 

“It's taught people about holidays and culture and things like that, which I am glad to do because although I'm not Chinese myself, I do want people to learn about it more within the community,” Hall said. 

“I think it's brought some diversity to the Elon community, for sure,” Rugbart said. "It's opened people's minds culturally.”

Hall said there will be many more events this semester including calligraphy nights and movie nights, and Rugbart said the spring semester line-up of events will include the club’s popular Dumplings Across Cultures Event with the Italian club and Latinx-Hispanic Union, as well as information sessions on study abroad opportunities in Chinese-speaking countries. 

In the future, Gao said she hopes the club will continue to gain more followers, but more importantly that the club continues to help people make meaningful connections. 

“I feel in our culture, we always want to have more​, but what is better for me is not more,” Gao said. “I want our club to do something that helps people to make real connections.”

While Gao said the club is focused on learning about a new culture, the Chinese club is doing more than just that. 

“It's not just you learn from us. We are learning together,” Gao said. “We are making our own culture.”