What is it?
Thank Goodness I’m Female (TGIF), is a female empowerment club on campus designed to give girls a place to go where they can feel safe and be their authentic selves. The club aims to challenge adversity and promote belonging on campus while having fun doing it.
Kyla Parks, a junior political science major and the president of TGIF says a big mission of the club is to connect with students and provide them with a “sister community” of people they can go to and feel comfortable around—a place where they belong so they don’t feel so alone on campus.
Anybody and everybody are accepted and welcome in this club. Even though the club has a big focus on female empowerment, Parks specifies that men are more than welcome to be a part of the club. There are a few meetings each year that are specifically designated as “women-only” events, but besides those, all events are open to anyone who wants to come.
Club meetings are every other Thursday from 5:30-6:30 p.m. in Multicultural Center room 230. Typical club attendance is between 20 and 30 students. Club meetings have been known to be a little bit chaotic, Parks explains, as the club contains “a lot of very wild-spirited women that are very power-forward.” The club often includes games, which brings out some competitiveness between members, all in good fun. Parks describes the club, saying “it’s just usually fun and a nice, chill vibe. Like you feel like you could be yourself and pretty much decompress from any class that you had in the morning.”
Events and meetings
TGIF does not just put on biweekly club meetings; they also have a few special events throughout the semester that students can get involved in. The first upcoming event is a powderpuff football game on October 16th to raise money for Breast Cancer Awareness Month. In this football game, it will be the females playing football, while the boys will be cheering them on.
Another event TGIF will be putting on this semester is the Ruby Jones conference, which will take place on October 22nd. This conference is a big networking opportunity for students that will also include various informational sessions for students to attend throughout the day.
Additionally, TGIF presents a “Power in Politics” two-meeting event on October 8th and 10th. This event is a partnership with NCNW, the National Council of Negro Women (see a feature on NCNW here), and will involve watching the movie Shirley, which tells the story of Shirley Chisholm. October 8th will be the showing of the movie and then October 10th will be a follow-up discussion about the movie. Both events are open to members of both clubs, as well as anyone on campus who would like to participate.
Why TGIF?
In previous semesters, students have left positive reviews at the end of the year about how the club makes them feel “at ease.” To Parks, attending a club meeting is therapeutic because it helps distract you from whatever is going on in your life. She states, “Anything like crazy that’s going on, you pretty much forget about it because you are just having so much fun here.” Parks believes students will leave club meetings feeling calmer, happier, and less stressed.
Parks says this is an important organization for the Bloomsburg campus because it helps students build deep relationships that cannot be achieved in class. She speaks to students, saying, “I want you to feel like you can be seen here, you can be who you are, you can have fun.” Parks hopes that students find a community and build deep, long-lasting friendships through TGIF.
Personal Experiences
Parks reflects on her experiences at TGIF, saying it made her feel seen and not judged in any way. This was such a positive experience for her that it inspired her to become a part of the executive board of the club. She states, “I wanted to be on the board so I could cause that change for other people. Sometimes we don’t recognize we cause that change for other girls like us.”
Looking to the future of TGIF, Parks hopes the club continues its cheerful, accepting, fun atmosphere and that the community that has been created will not diminish anytime soon. She encourages all Bloomsburg students to “come out, have fun, give it a try. It may be all girls, you may be the only boy, but you’ll still have a bunch of fun!”
To get involved in this club or learn more about it, follow the club’s Instagram @tgif_bu, which is where a lot of information and updates about the club are posted.
