I am a Russian American who spent some of my childhood in Russia, but moved to the US with my parents at a young age. Despite that, I speak exclusively Russian at home and with most of my friends and our family friends. I attend a US university, and joined the Russian club to gather, hang out, find fellow brothers to speak to in Russian about Russian life, business, Russian related topics etc. I noticed I felt lonely in college, and when I joined I was so happy because I realized these were my people.
The Executives/leaders of the club (fellow undergraduates) liked me a lot and asked if I wanted to join the Executive Board for the next semester, as they would be graduating. I applied for a spot and literally the next day became a leader myself, along with a few other nice regulars.
The problem is, as our club has continued to grow and well over 100 new people have joined our Groupchat, it has become very distilled. Our meetings have gone from 10-12 Russian-speakers to 40+ people from a much more diverse crowd. I went from speaking Russian 100% of the time, to less than half the time because we have so many Americans and other nationalities.
Last week was honestly my tipping point. We had our final meeting of the semester and a Зима (Winter) celebration to wrap things off. As people started pouring in, I knew off the bat that based on the crowd, it would be a joke of a "russian club". And I was right. People split and shifted between groups, and nearly every mini-circle I joined or group that approached me was speaking in English. It got to a point where I would just avoid anyone who I knew didn’t speak the language, and stuck exclusively with Russian speakers.
Many invited their friends, so we had a ton of people who couldn’t even understand "Privyet" leave alone hold a conversation in Russian at our club. A lot of the time, they would just be in their own area of the room just shouting and joking in English, killing the vibe. No Russian wanted them there, and I found it completely disrespectful and stupid. My friend who is also on the E-Board noticed this and was very irritated himself. We briefly spoke to those people and only if approached, and were very annoyed 2 hours in.
Any time a bigger group formed, it might start in Russian but quickly shift to English. At some point, my friend and I would just walk off. Some people definitely noticed it.
We spoke and decided that this needs to stop. Again, we welcome any Russian-speaker: Ukrainian, Uzbek, Kazakh, Azeri, etc. So, we want to implement a new simple rule out of Respect for the culture: **Club meetings will be conducted in Russian only**. If people want to speak English with everyone, they can go to the 100+ other campus clubs and leave ours alone.
I asked a bunch of Russian members I know for their opinions, and most were in full agreement about it. Even asking why we didn’t do this sooner. Others are afraid of getting in trouble with the Club Committee.
YTA for even the simple fact that you listed a bunch of “Russian speaking countries” that have their own language and culture and would very much rather to have nothing to do with Russia considering what Russia has done, is doing, or will do to them.
Apart from that you sound elitist and honestly at least a little racist/xenophobic.
Bro I would have been in this club as a Russian speaker and my immediate family is currently being bombed by Russia. A lot of former Soviet countries might have a lot of resentment about forced Russification and Russian imperialism, but generally, a lot of us do speak Russian amongst ourselves and to connect with other FSU. I guarantee that club probably has at least three people who are or who have parents from Ukraine.
Is this a club for Russians living in America or is this a more general club for anyone with an interest in the language and culture? This is a sure way to exclude anyone who likes Russian culture but doesn’t speak the language. What’s the point of the club?
This is a club for Russians living in America, and Russian speakers. All of our communication in the Telegram channel is Russian-based, and all of our events have a Russian theme, Russian background Music, or Russian mini-games. There is a separate Slavic Cultural Club people can go to if they appreciate the culture.
Info: how is the club billed? Who is its sponsor? Is there a Russian language major it’s affiliated with? From what is listed here, YTA, as it is not being described as a Russian language immersion class, but as a social group for people interested in the topic of Russian culture. The school might also have rules against discriminating against students for ‘not speaking Russian’ if it is supposed to be a social club. But it also sounds like this is a non-issue as there’s only 10 people who speak Russian, just hang out with them apart from the Russian Club at the school.
NTA for changing the rule, that’s a very valid one and you are in a leadership position, so you can change it.
I might gently nudge you to be just a bit more curious why the club has become so popular, though, instead of just irritated. Are you drawing people in due to global current events? Are you attracting a certain demographic for a reason you can pinpoint? Are certain majors wanting to join? How is the group being advertised?
There’s gotta be a reason you’ve had an influx of non-Russian-speakers interested in Russian club, and if you are fine with no longer having that level of interest in your club, then you’re golden. It really depends on your and your leadership team’s goals for the club. If you want more people to learn about Russian language and culture, you’re going to lose that with this rule. If you just want to shoot the shit in Russian with people who already know Russian, that’s what you’ll get with this rule.
what is the purpose of the club? does it have a charter or bylaws? Can you reject members from joining based on language and not get in trouble from the school?
most language clubs I’ve seen usually have people learning the language and having differing skill levels. Sounds like you just want to make it a language exclusive club. Which isn’t to say there probably isn’t a balance to be had with specific events designated at differing language proficiency levels or open to public.
INFO: What if someone with Russian descent wanted to join the club but they don’t speak Russian? They want to know more about their culture and heritage, but are limited because they can’t speak Russian. Are you going to kick them out? Isn’t the point of the club to reinforce cultural connections?
FWIW: American here who studied Russian from the 4th-10th grades. I wouldn’t be conversationally proficient enough to remain in the club.
Is this a Russian language club; or a Russian culture club? Do you (or are you allowed to have) rules for admittance for the club?
Your club committee’s bylaws and rules are going to govern what you’ll be allowed to do here.
It’s pretty clear that the activities in the club have devolved from the original intention. While I’d agree some re-focusing seems needed; in general, collegiate organizations have a negative view of any policies deemed exclusionary.
I would gather the executive committee to engage the club committee to explain the issues and what you are looking to do to correct before implementing changes to ensure you don’t endanger the club’s future.
Good luck!
That’s the problem. At a university you have students of a language, and for one like Russian which may or may not be taught at a pre-collegiate level (it was only offered at the bougier HSes in my area), that may be majority people being adult speakers of the language with 2-4 semesters of the language under their belt. Even if they’re passionate and serious, the fluency to be able to conduct a meeting in a second language learned as an adult just isn’t going to be there.
I don’t think it would be inappropriate to have like, events or dinners on occasion in Russian, or like the last 15 minutes of the meetings in Russian. Or even a subgroup for Russian students.
But I think insisting a Russian Club at an English speaking University is alienating a lot of the target audience of this club, underclass Russian majors and minors.
Maybe rename the club the “Russian language club”? Because otherwise people who have Russian heritage (and as someone who grew up in the US I’m sure you know that we count “heritage” pretty liberally) will definitely want to be included even if they don’t speak Russian.
Is it a Russian background/culture club or Russian language club? If it were Russian language club, the rule is entirely justified. But it sounds more like a hangout for Russians and friends club. Those who came recently are also in need of English practice to improve their studies while maintaining social connections.
Seems to me what you need is a set of meetings for Russian conversations only, while maintaining social aspect, such as celebrations, more inclusive and not limited to Russian only.
Is this club held on campus?
Is there a club charter that specifies speaking in Russian at club meetings/events?
I get your frustration, but i think it depends on whether this club was established for speaking Russian, or for sharing Russian culture (which can include language but definitely wouldn’t require it).
Maybe you could have regular meetings with only Russian language, but also hold cultural meetings a few times a semester that are designed to bring in non-Russian speakers.
YTA for not answering the question that has been asked several times: is this a Russian language club or a Russian culture club?