The Ames Furry Club provides a welcoming environment for people to learn about the world of furry media. 

There are a lot of misconceptions in the media about what exactly a furry is and the community as a whole. 

“We basically are just a group of people who likes the idea of anthropomorphic animals,” said club president and founder Odin Taylor. “So, if you think like Disney movies, like Robin Hood, Zootopia; animals that walk on two legs have human characteristics. They talk, wear clothes, that kind of stuff. We kind of just sort of like that idea for some reason.”

When Taylor first arrived on campus in 2018, he knew the furry community existed here at Iowa State through meeting other members by chance. Taylor wanted to create a space for people in the furry community to meet and interact. 

This year, there are roughly 55 to 60 active members in the club. Some of those members are Iowa State students, and some are from the Ames community. 

The club gets together every week, either virtually or in person. During their virtual meetings, members of the club have an online game night. For in-person meetings, members watch movies, eat snacks and sometimes work on costuming projects together. 

“It really just feels like this big group of friends who just happened to meet each other through a common interest, that interest being some play on the subject of anthropomorphism and the creation or celebration of art and experiences relating to that subject,” senior club member William Blanchard said.

Over the past year, members of the Ames Furry Club have become more ambitious with their goals for the club. This semester, they attended the Furry Migration convention held in Minneapolis, Minn. The Furry Migration is an annually held convention that “celebrate[s] the various facets of the fandom through art, writing, fursuiting, education and entertainment,” according to its website. 

“It was…a lot of moving pieces,” Taylor said “I think it actually came together well in the end, and that’s something I’d like to do again in the future.”

The Ames Furry Club provides students with plenty of opportunities for members to break out of their shells. 

Club members say that when people come to meetings, it is clear they have been shut out in the past. Within a month of coming to meetings, shy and closed-off people become talkative and outgoing. 

A calendar of all club events can be found on the student organization’s website. Students interested in joining the Ames Furry Club can reach out to Taylor at [email protected].