With all of the buzz surrounding Greek life formal rush this fall, there’s one Greek organization that might look a bit different — Alpha Delta Delta.
That’s because it’s not affiliated with Greek Life at all; Alpha Delta Delta, or the ADD club, is play on words for attention deficit disorder, or ADD, and is an organization built for neurodivergent students and supporters to bond over shared experiences.
“The club is about finding connections with other neurodivergent students and receiving the resources in a format that is easily digestible for us,” Via Matulich, a senior studying linguistics and the president of the ADD club, said. “I have noticed problems with the accommodations and resources that we already have at this school. It's hard for us to take the executive function, take the first step, in getting into those. I've had a lot of people struggle with Student Accessibility Services, and I just wanted to create something that would help with those things that should be easy, but it's not.”
Matulich came up with the idea for the club her freshman year but ran into some roadblocks between the COVID-19 pandemic and other Ohio University obligations. Her passion burst forward this year, with officially creating the club and encouraging students to join through recruitment efforts.
Additionally, though the organization is currently open to members, they aren’t yet on Bobcat Connect or associated with any university resources.
“We are having communications with Student Accessibility Services to get better insight on how it actually works for them on their side, but we're not affiliated with the university Student Accessibility Services,” Matulich said.
For ADD club, Matulich serves as president; Jax Scally, a senior studying music production, serves as vice president; and Rachel Miller, a senior studying history, serves as treasurer.
“We're intending on instating a secretary, but we don't have one at the moment,” Matulich said. “And depending on how large the group is, we're open to creating certain committees, more leadership roles.”
Matulich, Scally and Miller are all roommates, so when Matulich presented them with the idea for the club, they were thrilled to be a part of it.
“I didn't have the all of the resources that I needed early in college, and I didn't necessarily have a big group of like-minded friends to fall back on, but with this club, I'm hoping that I can give that to freshmen coming in who don't know anybody or just anybody who needs a group of friends and the resources to help them succeed,” Scally said.
From the recruitment efforts at the OU Student Involvement Fair, Matulich had over 100 people sign up, including Ella Johnson, a sophomore studying statistics, who has attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD.
“I've noticed that it is a big help when I'm actually in a group and I'm able to discuss with people or even just being around people and doing work is a huge help,” Johnson said. “So then once they were telling me about it I was like, ‘Oh, my gosh, that sounds like something I can totally join and would help me be more successful.’”
So far, the organization isn’t receiving any Senate Appropriations Commission, or SAC, funds and there are no member dues, but that might change depending on university legitimacy and programming needs in the future.
As of now, some of the meetings will focus on structured discussion topics, such as the process of getting a diagnosis or OU resources, and other meetings will be a group bonding activity with an emphasis on a creative or physical outlet. The goal is to be educational and also create a fun space to make friends.
Though the group is named after ADD, it is very much open to anyone who feels marginalized mental-health wise, people with a diagnosis or who are undiagnosed or people who are medicated or unmedicated. The group is also very welcoming of people who want to learn more and support neurodivergent students.
“I, personally, also have autism spectrum disorder, so that's a really big deal in my life and something that I can give more insight on,” Matulich said. “I have very close friends with bipolar and anxiety and depression and OCD, so I'm going to gather as much information as I can. But neurodivergent students generally have a very similar experience, no matter what they have, because the world views us all the same.”
The meetings will take place Mondays at 7:30 p.m., but the group hasn’t yet decided a location. To get involved, reach out to Matulich at om273517@ohio.edu, and check out the organization’s Instagram @ohioADD for updates to come.
“It helps me a lot to know that there's other people out there who have gone through the same things that I have,” Miller said. “Connecting with people and helping people means a lot to me. I used to ask myself, ‘Am I joining this because I am neurodivergent?’ But I’m like, ‘Even if I was neurotypical, I would still help, because I think regardless, it's really important to me that people have someone or a group to fall back on.’”
