The Circle K International chapter at Kent State will not change its name any time soon even though it’s sometimes confused with the Circle K gas stations and convenience stores.

Cassie Marks, junior business management major and president of Circle K, said the group, which branched from the international Kiwanis service organization, had the name before the gas station chain.

Marks said it confuses people, and when members tell someone they are going to a Circle K meeting the other person will ask, “What, the gas station?”

There is some mild confusion at first and it usually turns into an opening joke for the group, said Amy Basista, former president of Circle K. She said people eventually understand the difference.

“It is something that piques people’s interest,” Basista, a sophomore psychology major, said.

Circle K gets its name from its affiliation with the Kiwanis club. The Kiwanis organization has different levels of membership and each group has a letter ‘K’ in the name – K-Kids is the elementary school version and the Aktion Club for adults with handicaps.

Basista said for clarification the group usually sends out e-mails that say “Circle K, No not the gas station.”

“Circle K is an international organization and for us to change the name would (be defeating) the purpose,” Marks said.

Basista said the only change taking place is that the group will now be called by their full title – Circle K International – instead to make the group more prominent.

Some of the logos which symbolize the group will be changed, she said.

They will read “CKI” in all caps to visually separate the group from the gas station, Basista said, but the old logos can be kept as well.

Contact religion reporter Heather Scarlett at [email protected].