On Sept. 22, 2014, The Dining Hall or “TDH” was officiated as a new organization at IU Southeast.

While the group is not associated with Dining Services or The Commons, Katie Casper, communications junior and creator of TDH, said the group decided the name “The Dining Hall” because many of the members work at the dining hall on campus.

“It’s typically where we would all go to hang out,” Casper said.

TDH has a slogan they go by—“We drop fries.” Members of the group said they came up with this saying because most of them started off while working.

“We just started having fun with it, and turned it into a catchy slogan that had a lot of truth to it,” Casper said.

“Some members were working on campus cooking and thought it was catchy while making fries.” group member Lauren Conklin, psychology sophomore, said.

 Purpose

Casper said the organization’s purpose is to get students together and help with not only the community but also to gain friends by just “being yourself.”

TDH also seeks to host their own events and get involved at IU Southeast, Casper said.

“This group is about students getting involved that just want to have school spirit at IUS other than Greek life,” Casper said.

Casper said TDH requires a one-time fee of $50 that will help pay for events that TDH will host.

She said about half of the TDH members are also in a Greek Life organization, which require students to be in an additional group.

“We attend all the events they host, and they are going to help co-sponsor stuff for us.”

 Benefits of joining

Kassie Casper, psychology junior and TDH group member, said she has met new friends from being part of the group. She said they participate in intramural sports together at IU Southeast, have lunch together, study and do homework.

“We just support each other in all we do,” Kassie said.

She said one of her favorite memories in TDH was when the group participated in a basketball intramural. She said the group all got together for practice and made T-shirts.

“It was really a lot of fun,” Kassie said.

The group said they have many events they are currently planning. One of the first events the group is hosing is a costume run on Oct. 30 at 6 p.m. in McCullough Plaza.

“We worked hard to get where we are and to see it all come together is just awesome,” Kassie said.

Meetings

Casper said the TDH group meets every Monday at 8:30 p.m. and members don’t have to make every meeting.

“We think, as a group, meeting every Monday is better than one super long meeting a month, where most people can’t dedicate that much time,” she said.

The group has been doing Monday meetings since the group began and Casper said it’s been successful.

“We get more done this way. So far the meetings have worked out great. Currently the TDH group has a total of 25 members,” Casper said.

Spreading the word

Their goal right now is to try and get the word out there for more students on campus to learn more about their group through the help of social media and advertising around campus.

“We’re closed now, but we are going to start for the spring recruiting people,” Casper said.

She said any full-time student at IU Southeast can get involved and be a part of the group. Students who are interested are able to join TDH beginning in the spring semester.

“It’s just a great way to be you and make friends at the same time,” she said.

Casper said to start looking for “The Dining Hall” advertisements around campus next semester.

“A lot is in store for the future, we have many events in the working, a lot of volunteering projects and we are playing in the upcoming intramural sports,” Kassie said.

“When TDH became an organization, we were all too excited when it happened,” Conklin said. TDH is awesome and will always be special to my heart.”

For more information, Find The Dining Hall on Twitter and Facebook or go to http://www.thedininghall.com/