Circle K International of Drake University, a student-led service organization, held its charter ceremony and inducted its founding class and officers of 18 on Nov. 16 in Sussman Theater. 

Circle K International is the collegiate branch of service club Kiwanis International, which also oversees Key Club in high schools and Builders Club in middle schools. First-year Teegan Jones, president and founder of Drake’s Circle K chapter, was in Key Club all four years of high school.

“When I decided I was coming to Drake, I was really sad to see they didn’t have a Circle K and that I wouldn’t be part of the K family anymore,” Jones said. “So what’s left then, [but] to just start the club yourself?”

After Jones networked with other students throughout the summer and into the school year to reach a 15-member minimum, the chapter was chartered just 26 days into the semester.

While there are other service-focused organizations on campus, Jones believes Circle K’s wide reach and opportunities for leadership set the organization apart.

“It’s the world’s largest collegiate service organization,” Jones said. “We’re in more than 19 countries, but it’s different because we’re entirely student-led from the club level, club president, club officers, to the district level.”

The charter ceremony began with the pledge of allegiance and opening remarks from chapter Outreach Officer Izabella Arndt.

In addition to chapter members, Jones welcomed Johnston Kiwanis President Teresa Rotschafer and other Kiwanis representatives, as well as Iowa-Nebraska District Governor Piper Schrank. 

“When I first became governor, I found out we had most of our clubs in Nebraska, and that just wasn’t gonna fly with me,” Schrank said. “So I started looking at the schools, and Teegan had reached out, and so we were able to charter Drake and get 18 more people able to serve their community.”

Rotschafer presented the chapter’s charter, as well as a ribbon-covered chapter banner that had belonged to a previous Circle K club at Drake. While looking through old Drake yearbooks, Jones found that two Circle Ks had existed on campus: one from 1953 to 1971, and the second from 1988 to 1990.

“Those chapters eventually did dissolve, but their torches of service were never extinguished, and now we’re here to pick that up and carry it forward,” Jones said in a speech to charter attendees.

Jones inducted chapter members, and Schrank inducted the six-member executive board. To close the ceremony, the members of the district’s newest Circle K chapter took the CKI pledge. 

“I’m really excited to see all that they’ll do,” Schrank said. “They’re really a group of passionate students, and I know they’re going to do great things.”

In just the first semester, the club has participated in several service events, including Reggie’s Sleepout and the Student Alumni Association’s Halloween Spiketacular.

For Halloween, Circle K members participated in Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF by going door-to-door in Des Moines neighborhoods and asking for donations. The club raised $432, the most of any Circle K organization in the Nebraska-Iowa district. These donations benefited Circle K’s Brick x Brick initiative, which builds classrooms out of sustainable materials in Côte d’Ivoire.

“It really helped our members to see that not everyone is as fortunate as us,” Arndt said. “We are very privileged to be here, and I think that really helped us reflect and say, ‘Hey, I’m very lucky that I’m able to go to a school that has a classroom and has really good resources where other people are unable to.’”

Many of Circle K’s members, including Jones and Arndt, are first-years.

“I’m very happy to have this opportunity because we’re able to learn from each other,” Arndt said. “I don’t think any of us are coming in with more knowledge than another person, and so we’re able to really learn from each other and how to grow together as a group.”

Circle K plans to apply for temporary registered student organization status from Student Senate in February. After holding TRSO status for a year, Circle K will be able to apply for full RSO status in spring 2027. 

In the meantime, Circle K hopes to plan workshops, keynotes and larger fundraisers, organize committees, and expand its membership to include upperclassmen.

“It’s our inaugural year, so we’re really setting the precedent for everything that we’ll do going forward,” Jones said.