Every other Thursday at 8 a.m. people gather and eat donuts while listening to a speaker.
Most, if not all, students and faculty know of the NDSU Sandy’s Donuts Club, learning about it from campus tours and listserv emails, but many do not know what they club actually does.
The MyNDSU page describes their purpose as “serving the NDSU community with great conversation, notable speakers and an unforgettable breakfast — One Donut at a time.” But what does this truly mean and why should students join a donut club?
August Nuutinen, a third-year pharmacy student, has been a part of the organization for three years. He went from creating a position called recruitment and PR, then moved up to vice president and this year will be completing his NDSU career as president of Sandy’s Donuts Club.
When joining the organization, you not only have an excuse to eat donuts and drink coffee, but also you have a place for stress relief. “We all sit through crappy meetings all week and have to do very organized and structured things, so it’s kind of a free-flowing fun (thing to do),” Nuutinen said.
The organization takes things seriously while keeping a satirical aspect to keep a balance. “It’s satirical relief from the mundane meetings that you have to sit through all week,” Nuutinen explained.
“It’s Something I never thought it would be”
-August Nuutinen, Sandy’s Donuts Club President
Clearly, it is a relaxed organization where people can come and share their ideas about positions or speakers. They even have a handshake they do that builds more community. The organization also has a meme chair that sends out memes about donuts. Imagine being in class and getting a meme about donuts; that’s definitely a stress relief.
“It’s a good stress relief. It’s a good place to just blow off steam,” Nuutinen said.
Members strive to build community first by having an open conversation. It could be a funny or serious discussion. They then have guest speakers that range from friends, alumni, staff and faculty to people from around the Fargo community.
Through this organization, students are able to network with people that they wouldn’t have before. Because members come from multiple different majors, different speakers (both NDSU related and unrelated), alumni and even student body presidential candidates come and talk toward the end of the year.
Nuutinen heard about the club through his Theta Chi fraternity brother, and after one meeting he found the organization to be hysterical and had to join. During his first meeting, the speaker talked about filleting a northern pike with a long john donut, all while demonstrating.
The organization was created around four years ago by alumni Drew Spooner and Josh Thorsen. Nuutinen described how Spooner had come back for a visit recently and how surprised he was with how far the organization has come and how well known it is now. As of now, the organization has around 30 active members.
Meetings are every other Thursday at 8 a.m at the Sandy’s Donuts location in downtown Fargo. Why so early? Students are busy during the day, and it is also a good way to start of the day by eating a donut while having some laughs with fellow students.
Nuutinen recommended his favorite donut, glazed blueberry, and described it as a cross between a donut and a bagel. He said he is not a fan of the overly sweet donuts with too much icing and candy.
More information about the organization can be found at NDSU Sandy’s Donut Club on Facebook, Twitter and MyNDSU.