Animal House - Weres in College

[wolfvanzandt]

I'm about ready to get into the colleges around here. I have a template for a coupon flier to hang up in a couple of student unions. I'm thinking about starting with the University of Colorado in Boulder and the University of Colorado in Denver. But I'm not sure how to word it.

I'd like to reach both Therian students and faculty interested in the Therian community to form student union type groups and motivate community building and research. I'm hoping to instill a desire for community in the students so that, when they leave college to start their careers, they'll carry it with them. Coyote and I will decide on the final form of the flier but I'm opening it up to you for suggestions.

Maybe something general, like "Therianthropy - Community and research. Interested?" and tag on the address of my website and my phone number - maybe the address of this forum?

What do you think?

[Ashen]

I think its a good idea and great out-reach. Only thing I'd be concerned about is an influx of furries/not serious weres but that's going to happen no matter what.. I'd just be prepared for it best you can with educational brochures or something that explains the basics and the whole 'not a game, not a fantasy' thing

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[Lunar Flare]

Are you going to start doing seminars at these colleges first to introduce people to the concept? Or are you just going to start putting up fliers? From my experience, a tiny percent of people have no idea what the word therianthropy means and are completely lost, even at places like Furry conventions.

[wolfvanzandt]

In my experience, real life tends to filter out the fantasizers - of course, I'm in a new world up here in Colorado so I might find out differently.

I'm not planning to start with seminars and I'm actually interested in contacting the people who do know already what Therians are - the Therians, themselves, and faculty that might have already been exposed and have some interest. These are huge colleges and I'd be really surprised if there isn't already a significant Were population there. Also, I don't want to start opening up the subject without the input of the people who may be affected by it.

In the University of Colorado alone, there are 32,558 students in Boulder and 17,729 students in Denver. In addition, there are 15 or more universities and colleges between Denver and Fort Collins (my territory). After I get into the University of Colorado, it shouldn't be a problem getting into the smaller colleges.

Again, I'm not primarily trying to educate people; I'm trying to motivate them. A college presence can further real research by presenting the community to people who can actually do it - Weres who are in college, where they have to do research anyway, and facility who have to do research and publish or perish. Further, if I can instill an appreciation for community in Weres who are in school, when they go back home, or where ever they'll be going to start their careers, they'll be carrying the spirit of community back with them.

Ultimately, what I want to do is build the Were community.

[Lunar Flare]

Aug 15, 2014 13:26:02 GMT -6 wolfvanzandt said:

Again, I'm not primarily trying to educate people; I'm trying to motivate them.

I think you under estimate the percentage of weres who dont understand who or what they are, and have no idea what our terms even mean, and thus be blind to any fliers trying to get people motivated. Every time I give my seminars/speeches what have you, there are always 2-3 out of 10-20 participants who originally do not raise their hand when I ask who here is a therian, but then after I give my definition, I ask again, and they raise their hand. They then say something like "thank you for helping me to understand these strange feelings and experiences I had, I never had any words to describe it, now I know I am not crazy and there are others out there like me!".

So you might be missing out on a big chunk of the community that doesn't even know what they are without such education. And the other obvious bonuses of such education is preventing stigmas that we are some insane cult looking for members to join.

Truly, due to the nature and level of domestication that society puts on us, weres don't all come to the same conclusion of what they are, look online, and find the community. Some people try to shrug it off as just a strange oddity that they hide from people. Some people use the furry community to express their were side because thats the community that the did find that is closest to how they feel. Some people pass it off as their totem animal, and never look deeper, all the while suppressing these urges. And some people get into the "pup play" fetish community to express their were side without even knowing that they have a were side, since that community is all about getting into a primal mindset. And countless other ways people never find the truth and pass it off as something else... And I have met all of these examples listed, and when I explained myself and what therianthropy is, you could see the epiphany happen in their eyes, the excitement that now they finally have some answers to who they are.

The main reason I do this education is I am looking for the lost souls who dont know who they are, with the secondary reason is to help stamp out stigmas and promote tolerance from non-therians.

Do what you want, but I think that you would have more success with this project if you started off with an introduction with a seminar. I am sure even those who dont attend, the word would spread enough to get people to look up about who you are and what you are about, thus reaching out to more "lost souls".

[wolfvanzandt]

The thing is - if I get the Weres that do know motivated, they would be the ones to educate the others. Seminars and such would grow out of that kind of group. Student unions and such groups are there to provide services to other students in their particular groups. If I give a seminar (even assuming I could get permission to do a seminar on therianthropy in one of these colleges), it would be a one-shot affair. If I start a student group, they'll be there all the time. It's a matter of, give a person a fish, they'll eat for a day; teach a person to fish, they'll eat for life.

[Ashen]

Personally I wouldn't do a seminar at a big level college..might be pessimistic of me but I'd think out of a seminar you'd get a bunch of people who know nothing and are just curious... and would end up outting people that might not want to be outted. I dunno if I was on campus I'd probably go to a seminar but I'd expect half the other people are just going to learn what it is..which is fine but that could also result in a lot more..ignorant people. student group sounds more feasible to me

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[wolfvanzandt]

Well, right now, I'm planning to put up fliers so as to get either email or phone feedback. I'm just not sure of the best wording.

[desce]

When I was attending the University of Maine, a lot of the time clubs and student groups were the first place I went seeking others. They didn't have a therian/were/other group, but they had a paranormal group who were granted rights to go investigate and stuff. There was also a group for meditating and new age stuff. So I think it would only be a hop, skip and a jump to make a therian student group.

However, I would research any sort of new age and metaphysical interest in Colorado and if you find a large amount, then come up with a flier for a student groupl

The wording could be somewhere along the lines of 'For therians near and far, have you wanted to have some involvement in an offline project or have you already started a campaign to reach out to 'others'? Well, there is a group dedicated to building upon that basis if you'll only step forward and call such and such or email here for further details.'

Then if you're comfortable you could put, I am a therian interested in research and such as such as you mentioned above. Mostly keep it brief, vague, but throw some key words in that would make someone running to class who stopped to look at announcements notice the page and pause. Otherwise they'll just walk past and not really care. You may also want to look into the Colorado community and see if anyone has already tried to do the same and you could join forces.

Not much, but after being in a college environment for two years and wanting to find my own therian student group, I know I'd have looked in the library(everyone has to go there for some reason), the student union and the university book store for information.

[wolfvanzandt]

Library, student union (I've scoped those out), and book store - good ideas. I'm in the local community and no one's tried this (or any kind of outreach) yet.

I'm very much trying to avoid association with paranormal or New Age. A lot of offline Weres get really put off by that. But I already know that there are a lot of Weres in Colorado - many of them are unassociated with other Weres.

[desce]

Yeah, the only reason I considered metaphysics, new age and paranormal stuff, is because it ties in a lot to our abilities. Such as meditation and astral travel, I think are somewhat more metaphysical, dealing with entities or ghosts is along the lines of paranormal and new age kind of encompasses both and more.

A lot of people are very secretive about being therian or were(or are they the same thing now?) and often are drawn energetically to those groups. I think it's the idea of they're open to different, so it's a good place to start if you've never heard of therians or weres as a legitimate thing and not a mental disorder. Often times that can lead to a path back to others and therians. Least it's what I've observed over the past 11 years or so being in on and offline communities.

It also provides a good cover for starting up something new. Most people assume you're in league with paranormal, they're more open to learning or discussing and accepting other ideas of your personal being. It actually allowed me to be very open as a therian and talk to people about it in school. That and chasing squirrels kind of was a big tip off that my instincts weren't entirely human. XD

Only as recent as this summer, have I decided to finally see if there's a way to actively not be a therian and if it will help me figure out if my instincts are environmental or not. Hence, I introduced myself as not therian on here.

[wolfvanzandt]

"A lot of people are very secretive about being therian or were(or are they the same thing now?)"

They're getting a bit less. Universities and colleges, especially are a lot more open to diversity. Even when I didn't know that there were other Weres (back in the 70s), I was openly Were in a conservative, Southern University and did not receive any flack for it. Frankly, I'm looking for Weres that know they're Were and are willing to be open about it. In a University the size of CU, there should be several. They can easily interact with others on campus and do what you're suggesting. Both campuses are 20 miles or more away from me with lots of traffic between, so I can't keep a constant presence there - also, I work. But if I can recruit a Were student body, they would have a constant presence.

[Hopper]

This sounds like a cool project but I think some effort would have to be made to avoid sounding creepy. I know that I probably would be reluctant to just email some random person or call them but I'd probably be very willing to check out a forum instead. So I say defiantly put the address to the forum on it.

[wolfvanzandt]

Aye. That is a problem. I need a way to get around it. The email on the poster sounds like a good start.