Smaller student orgs at Tarleton are enjoying significant growth

BY MADALYNN DAVIS

Contributing Writer

There are many clubs and organizations that go above and beyond here at Tarleton State University, not just because of their successes, but for the continuous progress and impact they have on their members.

Organizations like Alpha Epsilon Delta, Tarleton Ultimate Frisbee and the Tarleton Pre-PA Society have grown their impact on campus and in the community, showcasing the broader success that clubs and organizations at Tarleton have been seeing.

New initiatives and growing membership are important, but they also prioritize personal, academic and professional development with their members.

Alpha Epsilon Delta

According to Texan Sync, “Alpha Epsilon Delta (AED) is a national health pre-professions honor society dedicated to the encouragement and recognition of excellence in pre-professions scholarship, including medicine, veterinary medicine, dentistry, optometry, physical therapy, physician assistant and many other advanced pre-health professions.”

AED has seen significant progress over the past two semesters, adding around 15 new members. Shelby Perrenound, the AED president, said she is constantly seeing new faces.

AED has also been increasing community service opportunities for members.

“We coordinated a food drive for the Treehouse afterschool program,” Perrenound said. “We want to continue to build upon the structure we have created this year.”

AED assists with the progression of students on their way to the medical field. They honor excellence, but also provide opportunities for members to get a headstart on certain exams required for their professions.

“Recently, we’ve incorporated a new opportunity called MCAT and DAT Mondays. Those are the entrance exams for medical and dental schools,” Perrenound said. “We’ve been holding these meetings for our members who are wanting to go to medical and dental school. Here, they can study and complete practice tests to prepare to take their exams.”

Although AED has had many recent successes, they're not planning to slow down anytime soon. Plans to continue the growth of member numbers and outreach opportunities are in the works.

“One exciting upcoming event is that we will be having a meeting where we have snacks and play volleyball to give us a brain break meeting before finals,” Perrenound said.

According to Perrenound, the organization intends to ensure members have the opportunity to be introduced to various fields of medicine and prepare those students for their applications into programs and future schooling.

Ultimate Frisbee

According to USA Ultimate, ultimate frisbee is a non-contact sport played with a disc, where two teams of seven players compete while officiating themselves. Tarleton’s Ultimate Frisbee team is constantly evolving, rebuilding each year as seniors graduate. They work to create a strong environment that encourages players to improve physically while also having fun.

Despite these sometimes difficult transitions, the team has made steady progress in learning from mistakes and working as a team. The new team recently participated in a tournament at the University of North Texas and placed fourth.

“Considering only four of us had ever played in a tournament, I see it as a huge accomplishment,” Evan Underwood, the risk management officer, said.

The team's growth on the field has been on a steady incline, and they have seen a pique in interest for the sport.

According to Underwood, Ultimate participated in Rec Fest last semester, bringing in around 100 potential new members’ information.

“About half of Ultimate members attended the next day we played,” Underwood said.

Ultimate will also be in attendance at the Tarleton Sports Club Takeover. According to Underwood, they will be playing Kanjam and hosting a throwing contest.

“I think it will be a lot of fun and we can introduce people to a sport they may have never heard of,” Underwood said.

Ultimate has one big goal they’d like to achieve for the future: more members. Gaining members, especially for a lesser-known sport, is difficult, but they have a plan to change that.

“We will try to be more active in our recruiting process and try to convince more people to come out and try our club,” Underwood said. “... I could see us reaching 100 [members] if we keep recruiting and sharing the game we love.”

Pre-PA Society

Newly founded in Fall 2025, the Pre-PA Society aims to support pre-physician assistant students by providing resources, promoting awareness of the profession and creating opportunities for professional growth, networking and community, according to Texan Sync.Though their time on campus has been short, the society has experienced notable progress. It can be a very difficult, long and laborious process trying to create a new student organization at Tarleton.

Within the first semester, they established bylaws, elected officers and received approval from the university. With these steps, the society was able to see instant results.

After doing an informational tabling during Pre-PA appreciation week, Vice President Katie Peugh said, “We had over 90 students join our Instagram and delivered over 100 student-written thank you notes [to local physician assistants] within our two-hour tabling period.”

The prioritization of outreach is something the society wants to remain at the forefront. Peugh also said the club has seen a significant increase in members in the last semester.

Considering how difficult it can be to gain members for a brand-new organization, it speaks to the interest and need for this type of organization. The Pre-PA Society is continuing to pick up speed with plans to continue fostering the growth of the organization and support for the physician assistant profession. The society also has plans to visit the local nursing home.

“We’ll be putting on a short play to entertain the residents and brighten their day,” Peugh said.

For the next few years, the society plans to see growth in numbers due to the increasing interest in the PA profession.