“‘If you knew the truth, you wouldn’t believe it,’” freshman Thomas May said, quoting Lee Harvey Oswald.
May and freshman Tyler Schwarz explored alternative explanations about John F. Kennedy’s assassination at their Conspiracy Theory Club during its third meeting on Oct. 18.
Schwarz and May are in the process of registering this organization as an official club. To register a club, it must have a faculty advisor, at least eight members and a written constitution. The co-presidents are looking for an advisor.
Because the club is unregistered, they lack a space to have official meetings. Schwarz and May rent out a room in Bracken Library every other Wednesday at 8:30 p.m. to hold the meetings. However, the group has run into issues with using a room in the library –– if someone else rents out the room they normally use, the time the club meets must change. The meetings last an hour.
This was the case for its third meeting, and the club met an hour earlier as a result. This didn’t hinder the turnout, though –– 15 students came to discuss Kennedy’s assassination, more than the previous two meetings the club held.
Meetings are set up much like a discussion class: Schwarz and May pitch the socially accepted information about an event, then some alternative explanations for the event, and club members respond to the proposed theories, adding to them or suggesting other ideas.
“I love playing into the idea that there is more than what meets the eye,” Schwarz said.
Schwarz was inspired to start this club by her sister, who attends Indiana Academy. Her sister told Schwarz her high school had a conspiracy theory club, and that was where Schwarz got the idea.
Schwarz also joked she was looking to find new friends to tell these theories to because she already told all her old friends.
May, a psychology major, decided to help Schwarz create the club because he is curious to discover why people are so entertained by conspiracy theories. This club also helps him find and make friends.
“I like having friends. That was nice,” May said. “I got like, 20 Twitter followers in one night.”
The club also voted freshman Maranda Proce to be the club’s Social Media Advisor during the third meeting.
“Twitter and Snapchat will be the ones that we use the most,” Proce said. “I feel like they’re the most convenient.”
The club has a Facebook page, Cardinal Conspiracy, and a Snapchat group, but Schwarz said in order to join the Snapchat group, one must be friends with somebody in the group.
Social media is the group’s only form of advertisement, but May said once the club is registered, he will print out flyers to put around campus.
“It’s a good time, just hanging out and talking about theories,” May said.
Contact Hannah Gunnell with comments at hrgunnell@bsu.edu.
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