After several years in limbo, Creighton’s History Society has found fresh footing on campus through a new leadership team and revamped programming designed to foster community and connect students that share a passion for history.  

According to the most recent information on the official Creighton webpage, the History Society had been inactive for over six years before current president, College of Arts and Sciences sophomore, Sophia Santos became interested in reviving the organization. While no members of the original History Society remain on campus, the club’s Facebook page indicates that the History Society hosted Jeopardy events, film screenings and field trips to local museums. The club’s period of inactivity was caused by high leadership turnover; by the time senior officers graduated, there were no underclassmen to fill their roles. Eventually the club became defunct.  

Today, the History Society is taking lessons from their predecessors to make history fun and engaging for all students. According to Creighton University’s History Society page, the most important part of the organization’s mission is to ensure that meetings are more social and collaborative.  

Hannah Butler, a junior in the College of Arts and Science and Public Relations of the History Society, comments in the club’s Instagram post that “History Society means meeting new people from all different majors for conversations of history!” Butler said. “It means to share your historical interests while meeting new people in a fun and casual environment opposed to in the classroom.” 

While the History Society still hosts trivia nights and field trips, its newest iteration is trying to encourage entertaining discussion and debate among members.  

“Usually, we start with an ice breaker question. Last week we asked who would win in a fight: Alexander the Great or Genghis Khan?” Santos said.  

By opening the floor to debate, Santos hopes members can share their passion for history in a less academically rigorous manner.  

“A lot of people have this misconception that history is just reading and memorizing, but really it’s the building of historical narratives. It’s about getting different perspectives from different people and different evidence and building a cohesive narrative,” Santos said. This communal element of history teaching united Santos and other board members: “We realized what we loved about our history classes was the discussion, not just the reading.”  

Santos also hopes that the emphasis on social connection will help students outside the humanities find community in the History Society. While the board largely consists of humanities majors, History Society membership represents a diverse collection of students.  

“All these people have a passion for history in one way or another. The History Society is supposed to be a community where they can share those passions with other like-minded individuals,” Santos said.  

The History Society meets from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. on Wednesdays.