University Students form Sein Club

smuckers

University students form Seinfeld club
Maggie Dunphy
Staff writer


Suzanne Sitrick The Daily Illini

Club Kramerica founders, (from left) treasurer Collin Williams, sophomore in business; president Paul Holze, sophomore in ACES; and vice president Chris Kabureck, junior in engineering, introduce themselves at the beginning of their first Club Kramerica meeting. "For a club about nothing, we are actually doing something," said Holze.


A television show about nothing inspired three University students to do something.

The University's first Seinfeld fan club, Club Kramerica: A Club About Nothing, had its first meeting on Wednesday evening. About 70 people came to find out what the club was about and watch Seinfeld episodes.

Paul Holze, sophomore in ACES, Chris Kabureck, junior in engineering, and Collin Williams, sophomore in business, started the club last spring after throwing around the idea as they watched Seinfeld reruns in each other's dorm rooms.

"Just like people liked a show about nothing, we figured they might like a club about nothing," said Kabureck, the club's vice president.

The club grew from a membership of three to over 200 students after Quad Day.

At the meeting, each officer introduced himself. Holze, president of the club, wore a Kramer-inspired dress shirt. He briefly discussed what the club is about — nothing. People yelled suggestions while he spoke and laughed or clapped in recognition of Seinfeld references he dropped into his speech.

"Every situation is a Seinfeldian situation," said Williams, the club's treasurer. "We'll just walk around our dorm and pull one-liners from the show."

The three officers live on the same floor of Snyder Hall. Kabureck and Williams are roommates and Holze lives across the hall.

"Just like Kramer," Kabureck said.

"We need an Elaine, though," Holze added.

The meeting took place in 151 Everitt Lab and Seinfeld episodes were projected onto a large screen. The club watched "The Voice" first — the episode featuring Kramer's Kramerica Industries.

Brook Demoisy, sophomore in LAS, came to the meeting after finding out about it on Quad Day.

"With all this craziness I need a little nothing," she said.


Suzanne Sitrick The Daily Illini

Students watch an episode of Seinfeld in Everitt Laboratory Wednesday night during the inaugural meeting of Club Kramerica. The club was founded last spring, but this was its first meeting. "Quad Day was our first event and we had 176 people sign up. Since then more have signed up and we now have over 200," said Chris Kabureck, junior in engineering, one of the founders of the club.


The club also watched the top three episodes determined by an online poll on their Web site: "The Chicken Roaster," "The Merv Griffin Show" and "The Contest."

Alex Verticchio, freshman in LAS, was in line with the majority of club members when he said his favorite episode was "The Chicken Roaster." Verticchio found out about the club on Quad Day and decided to come see what it was about.

"It's just a funny show with really relatable characters," he said.

Club members wrote down their guesses for the top episode as they arrived and Holze announced winners in between episodes. Prizes included an undershirt — in reference to an undershirt featured in an episode — and four taped episodes of the winner's choice.

Holze's brother introduced Seinfeld to him when he was in grade school. He started taping episodes when he was a freshman in high school and now has every episode on VHS tape.

"Paul's pretty obsessed with Seinfeld," Williams said.

Some of the club's goals are to provide a social atmosphere for people and offer some time to relax. Kabureck described the club as "an escape from reality."

"Kramer's whole life is a fantasy camp," Holze began.

"So we're trying to bring Kramer's fantasy camp to students," Williams finished for him before all three men laughed.

Holze spoke with enthusiasm when he mentioned the club's ultimate goal.

"What we'd really like to do is to co-sponsor Jerry Seinfeld or Michael Richards (the actor who portrayed Kramer on the show) to come to campus," he said. "We'd be happy for either of them to come talk about anything they want, not just Seinfeld stuff."

The club also wants to organize service projects on campus. Holze recently submitted a proposal to the University to start an Adopt-a-Bike Path program, an idea inspired from a Seinfeld episode in which Kramer adopts a highway. If approved, other University clubs could also take part in the program.

"We can come up with an endless amount of impractical ideas," Holze said.