On the rainy afternoon of March 28, the Swiftie Club, named for Taylor Swift fans, hosted its first general interest meeting (GIM), welcoming all kinds of fans of the one and only Taylor Swift. In true Swiftie fashion, the meeting was held in Lecture Hall 13 with members filing in as the E-Board shuffled through Swift’s greatest hits from “…Ready For It?” to “Wildest Dreams,” exciting members with promises of weekly Swift-themed events ranging from paint nights to debates on which is the best album. The GIM ended with the announcement of a Trivia Night for the following week.

The “Taylor Swift Trivia Night” event — held on April 4 — had small groups and individual competitors generating answers for some of the most challenging questions any Swiftie could imagine. Rewarding winners with gift cards, the Swiftie Club concluded another successful meeting with a full house.

The Swiftie Club brings together Swifties from across campus to appreciate Swift, an artist who, for many, speaks the words that are often impossible to piece together. Jared Hollander, president of the Swiftie Club and a junior majoring in geology, spoke about the significance of Swift’s career in his own life.

“When [Swift] came out with ‘1989,’ that was ‘The Moment I Knew’ — pun intended,” Hollander said. “‘Bad Blood’ and ‘Clean’ were the [songs] that spoke to me the most. I was bullied in high school and middle school, mostly. During the bridge in ‘Bad Blood,’ [Swift] says, ‘Band-Aids don’t fix bullet holes / You say sorry just for show,’ and that really spoke to me. She’s such a brilliant songwriter because I can exactly relate to that moment in my own life. When I was bullied, ‘Clean’ helped me because it described how I was feeling. She said, ‘The water filled my lungs, I screamed so loud / But no one heard a thing.’ And it’s like how I was because I was trying to reach out for help.”

Hollander presented the idea of Swiftie Club to his friend after hoping to find more people on campus to bond over Swift’s talent. Currently, the Swiftie Club has garnered more than 80 members and is ahead of track to be chartered by the Student Association by the end of the semester.

Caitlin Dazi, vice president of the Swiftie Club and a sophomore majoring in political science, reflected on the importance of connecting with fellow fans of Swift.

“[Swift]’s been there for me through it all,” Dazi said. “Her albums have come out throughout my life. I found so many friends through her music and now we’re starting this club to find more friends and meet more people that love her.”

Swiftie Club meets every Monday evening at 7 p.m. in Lecture Hall 13.