Bearkat Orgs: CommuniKats

Bearkat Orgs: CommuniKats

For students looking to strengthen their communication skills and build connections across campus, CommuniKats offers opportunities to practice transferable skills outside the classroom. The student organization gives students a space to develop communication skills they can use in academic, professional and everyday settings.

CommuniKats, an organization within the Department of Communication Studies, relaunched during the 2025-2026 year after previously operating as a speech and debate team. Today, they focus on helping students understand how to communicate effectively in a variety of settings.

“Having good communication skills and being able to use them regularly is always good practice,” Hope Bloecher, president of CommuniKats, said. “Everybody could use better communication skills, whether in professional or school settings.”

The organization aims to equip students with the ability to know when, and how, to communicate differently. Rather than holding traditional lectures or meetings, CommuniKats does so through activities and games.

At their first meeting of the semester, members played “Gen-Z Translations,” which challenged them to turn internet slang into professional language. Other activities build skills such as word choice, clarity and descriptive communication through games like speaking without filler words and describing tasks to a blindfolded partner.

“We try to use everyday things to evolve communication skills,” Bloecher said. “We want to actively train your brain to look for grammatically correct terminology and resort to professional communication, rather than slang.”

They also participate in service and fundraising projects throughout Huntsville. Earlier this year, members made Valentine’s Day cards for residents of a local senior living community, and this winter, they plan to host a canned food drive to support local food pantries.

For Bloecher, however, CommuniKats is about more than communication skills. The organization also gives students an opportunity to meet people from different backgrounds and find a sense of community at SHSU.

“In college, you are networking the majority of the time you are here,” Bloecher said. “You never know who you could meet that could impact your future.”

Students from all majors are welcome to join CommuniKats. While it is housed within the Department of Communication Studies, its officers and members include students with various academic interests.

“It’s a wide variety of people who are all gathered around having fun and being able to focus on communication skills,” Bloecher said. “It’s nice because you get a bunch of different opinions and experiences, and it allows me to do things I would've never thought of.”

CommuniKats meets at 6 p.m. on the last Monday of each month in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences Building. The organization does not require membership dues or service hours.

“Being in organizations can be stressful, and we are just here to hang out and have fun,” Bloecher said. “If you have had a bad week, come and hang out and we can have a great time together.”

Students can find CommuniKats through Bearkat HQ and Instagram. If interested in joining, reach out on Bearkat HQ, send a direct message to their Instagram or simply show up to a meeting.

“By being involved in an organization, whether it is CommuniKats or something else, you can have something to be a part of and find community in,” Bloecher said. “We try to help students who don’t feel as comfortable being in public, or who may be newer to the area, feel like they have a space to go to.”