An unlikely club on campus is uniting students of all years and majors over one thing: a love for cheese.
Northeastern’s Cheese Club does just what the name implies: You “just show up and eat cheese,” said club member Emily Aitken, a second-year philosophy major.
The club meets every Thursday, and meetings consist of two major events — conversing and eating cheese. The club’s atmosphere is “very casual,” said Annabelle Hatsar, the club’s secretary and a third-year English and communication studies combined major.
Each week’s meeting begins with a short five-minute presentation introducing the week’s theme and presenting the cheese menu. The March 21 meeting, for example, had a theme of “cheese with stuff in it” and featured havarti with dill, caramelized onion jack, smoked gouda with bacon and truffle goat cheese.
Once the presentation is complete, everyone rushes in line to receive their plates of cheese. After the cheese is distributed, the club then turns into a social event where members try the cheeses, “mingle, talk and play music,” Hatsar said.
Cheese Club started in 2019 and, at the time, was very small, said Logan Buchalter, the club’s co-president and a fourth-year mechanical engineering major. When the club was started, it was only run by two people.
“[They didn’t] even … [have] cheese at every club meeting like we do now,” said David DeRienzo, the club’s other co-president and a third-year physics major. In its first year, Buchalter said members had to pay for supplies out of pocket as it was not yet funded by the Student Government Association.
Cheese Club gained popularity quickly, however, and soon became a “pretty developed club,” Buchalter said.
One of the most important elements of Cheese Club is social interaction. The club isn’t just about eating cheese, but connecting with other members and meeting new people, Buchalter said.
“Cheese transcends majors and different interests,” Buchalter said. “It brings people together who otherwise probably wouldn’t have met.”
Some of the club’s members joined their first year at Northeastern and have used the club as a method to meet new people.
“Yeah, we get cheese. Yeah, we get money from the university, but it’s more just people getting together and getting rid of stress,” DeRienzo said.
The club has grown to include several executive board positions. Aitken, for example, serves as one of four “cheese runners.”
Essentially, cheese runners select, purchase and prepare the cheeses served in the club based on each week’s theme. They usually get the cheese from nearby grocery stores, such as Star Market, or specialty cheese shops.
Of course, being elected to the executive board has its own element of cheesiness. When elections for different positions on the executive board take place, the winners are crowned with a cheese hat.
“We have a couple of cheese hats that are in circulation,” Buchalter said, adding that being “crowned” is one of his favorite Cheese Club memories. Every time elections happen, these foam cheese accessories are passed down to new board members.
The club also holds a yearly fondue night, which several members recalled as their favorite club memory. A unique activity is held every year, and this year, club members are planning on going to a local farm, Buchalter said.
Most students hear about the club and decide to join during campus tours of the university, according to Daniel Gordon, a cheese runner and second-year cybersecurity and business administration combined major.
“Basically, we’re kind of a big deal,” Gordon said. “We’re like a talking point.”
When asked their favorite cheeses they’d had during club meetings, attendees ticked off truffle brie, grey owl goat cheese, smoked gouda, white truffle brie, Armenian string cheese, Havarti and goat cheese with cranberry.
“I just love the environment here. Everyone is so friendly, so nice,” Hatsar said. “We just all get along so well. We don’t take ourselves too seriously and we actually learn things, but not too much.”
