Over 36,000 students at the University of Tennessee flood the campus with different interests and hobbies.
As of this semester, students who identify as furries or are part of the community now have a place on campus to be associated with — the UTK Furry Club.
Sharon Roberts, the cofounder of FurScience, defined furries as “people who have an interest in anthropomorphism, which specifically refers to giving human characteristics to animals.” Hundreds and thousands of people worldwide identify as furries, according to CNN.
Tegan Flynn, a sophomore studying wildlife and fisheries, is the president and cofounder of UTK Furries. Flynn said the inspiration of starting the club came from Stanford University, which has a class dedicated to fursuit making, as well as the Furries at Stanford Club.
The mission behind starting the club for Flynn was to create a safe space for students with similar interests to engage with each other.
According to Jack Maloney, a junior studying biomedical engineering and also a member of the club, the mission Flynn started the club on is being met.
A common talking point throughout my conversation with Maloney was that UTK Furries has created a safe space for them and other students where they might not normally find that.
“People are extremely cutthroat when it comes to anything related to furry stuff,” Maloney said. “There is plenty of reason to be afraid of coming out to certain people about it. There is still plenty of hate.”
Being a furry has been misconceived in the media — the term represents a wide and diverse community. Maloney talks about his experience with finding his identification as a furry.
“It started off as this logical exploration of the concept itself and then slowly and surely it grew on me exponentially as I found more avenues to express myself through it,” Maloney said. “It allows you to explore gender, sexuality and all aspects of identity through a character, in a way, but also through yourself.”
Maloney explains that most furries begin with a character through a reference sheet. Their character, or fursona, is a fox-like creature that goes by the name Faux.
“The character is made out of this biomatter that is highly adaptable to its surroundings so it is able to morph over time,” Maloney said. “It helps to express gender fluidity and there being multiple aspects to it.”
The club has about 80 members who each have their fursonas that they created. Inspiration from fursonas can come from anime or personal experiences.
“A lot of our members have different fursonas from different aspects and different animals. It’s a lot of diversity in the club,” Flynn said. “It’s really actually cool to see because people have all these different things they come up with, and I am pretty proud of it because all of these people are in the same place and get to share that.”
To join the club, you don’t have to be a furry. The space Flynn has created is not just for furries but for those with similar interests or ideas or even those looking for a safe environment to speak freely.
The club meets two times a week where they host crafts, movie and board game nights and interact with each other. In the future, Flynn is working to create more interactive events.
“People like furries are kind of shut in and don’t want to talk a lot because they’re scared,” Flynn said. “I want this to be an environment where they’re not scared and they can do what they need to and find friends.”
