“Are kindness and compassion the same thing?” How do you think early humans depended on each other for survival?” These are some of the questions attendees of Club Kindness’ introduction meeting discussed on April 22nd at the Central Campus.
“Club Kindness” is one of the newest clubs at HCC. Their goal is to spread kindness to all HCC campuses and throughout the broader community by hosting engaging events that teach people how to appropriately show up for those in their life while also working in tandem with other organizations to host other events like cleanups.
In fact, the following weekend, members participated in a cleanup event at Mason Park.
When asked about the importance of the club and what she hopes will come out of it, club historian Angel Gipson said, “Being a kind person within any group or organization makes every individual feel as though they belong, work more harmoniously as one, and creates a friendly environment in which everyone has a voice that is heard and respected.”
The first activities were competitive quizzes and “Blooket” games where students could test their understanding of concepts like “empathy vs. sympathy” and find out why the distinction matters. The second aimed to have students share their thoughts and experiences related to kindness.
Club leaders had students craft darts using pencils and thumbtacks to aim at balloons containing various prompts.
The heart of the meeting was when “Club Kindness” founder and President, Pedro Garcia, shared a prehistoric case that places doubt on the notion that humans are inherently selfish.
The toothless skull of an early human ancestor was found in Dmanisi, Georgia. The fact he survived for so long showed that the other people in his community looked after him and fed him soft foods.
“Maybe these examples of compassion…were things that were deeply ingrained in our DNA,” said Garcia during the presentation. A slide suggested that kindness “may have evolved alongside bipedalism (walking on two feet) and tool use as a key element of our survival.”
The presentation concluded with a plea to humanize our ancestors and challenge preconceived ideas about them.
“Club Kindness” is here to stay. To stay updated on events and become a member, join the GroupMe.
