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A splash of color on the sidewalk, a hug outside of DeBartolo, a complementary post-it stuck to a dining hall tray — these are signs that a new club is hard at work on campus. Their mission? Spread a little kiNDness.

The idea for the KiNDness Club began last year with Coach Stephanie Gaal, who works in physical education as an assistant professional specialist on campus. Working alongside the Random Acts of Kindness Foundation, Gaal reached out to freshmen in her gym classes to get the club started. 

“I came forward wanting to take on a major role in starting the club, as did the other current officers,” the current president of the club, sophomore Elaine Schmidt says. These freshmen laid the groundwork for the club, which was approved last year and now has 90 members participating in random acts of kindness around campus. 

“The purpose of KiND shall be to foster a lifestyle of kiNDness to others and self,” Schmidt says. “We will promote random acts of kiNDness throughout the campus, surrounding community and the world… KiND will be a constant reminder to embrace whimsy and to highlight the value of goodness of humor and heart.”

Recently, the KiNDness Club decorated campus with positive chalk messages to relieve the stress of midterms. “We just wanted to do something with whimsy that would lift everyone’s spirits,” sophomore Digital Secretary John Riordan says. “Chalk was a perfect way to do this as we could write positive affirmations, random kind messages and, most importantly, messages that made people laugh.”

Schmidt says the club will sponsor more random acts of kindness throughout the year.