Kent State students are breathing new life into an old club.

Unite for Reproductive and Gender Equity is a student-led organization that focuses on empowering young adults to get educated on social issues and mobilize their communities.

Previously, URGE was active at Kent State until meetings of the club stopped in January of 2019. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, the club lost momentum entirely.

Sophomore communication studies major Riley Hudson first learned about URGE from her boss and Women’s Center Director Cassandra Pegg-Kirby who encouraged Hudson to revive the club.

“Basically all of these issues are always affecting us, so being able to bring together a group of people to talk about and educate the community about a lot of these issues is really important,” Hudson said.

URGE is part of a larger network of college campuses across the country.

“Their mission is our mission,” Hudson said. “And they basically work to promote and uplift young voices, to find their passion for different injustices, and then take that advocacy elsewhere.”

To help get the club off the ground, Hudson started posting on the social media account, hung fliers around campus and promoted it to different classrooms. With some general interest from students, the club had its first meeting March 15.

“We didn’t get a lot of people at the meeting last night, but again, that’s expected just because it is the first meeting,” Hudson said. “And I think that was a good stepping stone into talking to other people about the club because it all starts with one meeting.”

Hudson is having an officer meeting later in April to have the club prepared for the fall semester.

“My hope is to continue to stay active and make this a long term thing, instead of like, letting it die out,” she said. “I know that wasn’t their fault or anything because of COVID and everything, but I just want to make sure that this stays because it is an important conversation.”

For more information regarding upcoming meetings and news, go to URGE’s Instagram.