Over the summer, Saint Mary’s seniors Katie Franz and Katie Shaffer began collecting stationary. Their goal? To begin leaving handwritten “love letters” for students to find throughout campus.
The letters are a part of a new club called Campus Cursive. The group stems from a larger organization called More Love Letters that allows students to start a chapter of this project at their own school. After being approved by the College and the More Love Letters company, Franz and Shaffer began their mission to promote kindness and positivity within the lives of students through the club. Franz and Shaffer said as seniors, they want to positively impact Saint Mary’s before graduating.
As roommates last year, Franz and Shaffer said they used to write “little love notes” to each other throughout the school year. This experience of exchanging words of affirmation inspired them to bring Saint Mary’s its own chapter of Campus Cursive. Franz added that this club complements her major in education.
“The creativity in writing letters is really exciting,” she said. “I hope to carry this over into a classroom setting one day. There has been a significant increase in bullying and violence in schools, and that’s a huge problem. I know that if I do this with my kids one day it will bring kindness into schools.”
Similarly, Shaffer said the Campus Cursive chapter enriches her major in psychology.
“I am a psychology major so I’m all about mental health,” she said. “It’s good for people to write letters and also be helping someone else. Mental health is something that is being talked about more frequently, and a small act can really impact one’s day when they are going through a rough time.”
The More Love Letters movement began with the desire of one college student to spread more love throughout New York City by writing anonymous, kind letters, Franz said. This one student’s vision transformed into a movement, and the More Love Letters company was born. According to the organization’s website, over 250,000 love letters have been bundled into an envelope and delivered to “people in need.” In addition, over 100 campuses have a chapter of their own.
Franz and Shaffer are planning to hold Campus Cursive meetings every other week. The two said the meetings are designed to be “stress free” and comprised of writing letters. They are also planning on holding other events throughout the semester, including writing letters to first-year students and leaving letters at Notre Dame on game days when a large amount of people are on campus.
“I think one thing I’m most excited about is the community of girls who will be super passionate about this work,” Franz said.
The Saint Mary’s chapter of Campus Cursive is open to students at Notre Dame and Holy Cross as well. Franz and Shaffer said no cursive handwriting is necessary for participation in this club. Students can follow @smccampuscursive on Instagram to stay updated on this club’s activities within the community.
