No matter how many times their guardians told them not to, members of a club at N.C. State go out of their way to talk to strangers. 

The Clown Nose Club’s mission is to increase friendly communication among people on campus in creative ways.

Members do things, such as wearing clown noses, as a way of starting conversations with strangers, which allows them to act more boldly and break out of their comfort zones, according to the club’s website.

President Raul Gonzalez said he has been a member of the club since it started three years ago.

“The mission statement of the club was really simple: People matter,” Gonzalez said.

The original idea for the organization came from a Pennsylvania State University student, Chad Littlefield, after Cirque du Soleil, a traveling circus entertainment company, visited his campus. Littlefield tried on one of the clown noses the company passed out and started greeting whoever passed by him, from whom he received friendly responses.

His antics gave birth to the idea of the Clown Nose Club.

Since then, the club spread to N.C. State (as well as Rider University) after Littlefield discussed his club with former State student Alma Buljina, whom he met on an alternative service break trip in the Dominican Republic.

Though membership of the club at PSU has gained a large following, State’s branch remains a fledgling organization, according to Gonzalez. Buljina and the other graduate students who founded the club grew busy after the first semester, so the club became less active.

After that first year, Gonzalez volunteered as the club’s new president, but it wasn’t easy, according to Gonzalez.

“Not having any officer experience in a university before, I had to learn about all of the university policies and regulations and how to delegate,” Gonzalez said. “It did not run as smoothly as anyone liked.”

The club members didn’t plan major events; instead, they just hosted games at meetings. That policy has changed this year, as the club has sponsored about one event each month, according to Gonzalez.

Brianna Reed, club member and freshman in environmental sciences, said she particularly enjoyed the Random Acts of Kindness Scavenger Hunt, which took place on the Brickyard in October. 

Participants completed 15 tasks in the scavenger hunt, including giving high-fives to 15 people, getting a stranger to tell them their life story and giving a random person a hug among other tasks.

“A lot of people had a confused but amused face … and it definitely made us step out of our comfort zone and talk to new people,” Reed said. “I really enjoyed that and I felt like we were starting to make an impact.”

Reed said she also likes the tips she receives at the end of each meeting, such as, “Say ‘hi’ to every person you meet for a week.”

“Saying ‘hi’ to a random person can make them feel better and can definitely make them change their outlook on life. I know. I’ve experienced it before,” Reed said.

The first half of any given meeting consists of a fun icebreaker game. The second half has members discussing future club events and other administrative information, according to Reed.

Gonzalez said he would like to caution those who think this club is all about the social experience, as it also develops leadership skills through planning events.

“All of our members are introverted and seeing them planning out all of these zany ideas has shown me a lot,” Gonzalez said. “We are learning how to interact with people.”

Reed said through the club she has met a lot of new people and learned valuable lessons, but she said she thinks the club needs more awareness to take its message even further.

“Our name is CNC and what we do is we bring people joy just like clowns do, minus the clowns but still with the noses,” Reed said.

The club meets weekly in room 106 of the First Year College Building, alternating Tuesdays and Wednesdays, with the next meeting set for Dec. 3 at 7 p.m.