Ahead of Taylor Swift's new album, Missouri State students establish Taylor Swift Society

Over the past year, Swifties have been enjoying their moment. The Taylor Swift super fans gathered for the musician's cross-country "Eras" tour in stadiums and movie theaters last year and are now eagerly awaiting her new album, "THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT." The 16-track album will be released Friday.

Missouri Swifties appear to be the most eager about the pop musician who has been taking media outlets and social media by storm. As of Tuesday, Google searches for "Taylor Swift" were among the highest in Missouri, according to Google Trends.

Jumping on the bandwagon, a handful of Missouri State University students decided to create their own organization centering around Swift at the start of this year, the Taylor Swift Society. The student organization meets every Sunday at 7 p.m. in the Plaster Student Union on campus.

Maia Cheong, a junior psychology undergraduate at Missouri State, is the president of the Taylor Swift Society. As of late March, the organization was made up of seven students, with three attending meetings regularly.

Creating the Taylor Swift Society felt like a "perfect opportunity," Cheong told the News-Leader.

"I was talking with my friends, who are also fans (of Swift) about a conversation I had overhead between two of my classmates about how they would love to be a part of a Taylor Swift club if it existed," Cheong said. "I remember thinking to myself, 'Oh, that's a good idea,' and when I mentioned it to my friend, they told me they were familiar with the process of starting a student organization."

Cheong then completed the necessary paperwork, including an organization constitution, and pitched the idea to the Student Government Association, which approved it.

For Cheong, the main purpose of the Taylor Swift Society is to "have fun and make friends based on a common interest." Meetings may consist of Swift-themed bingo, lyric guessing games or planning for future events.

But members also prioritize respect and constructive criticism.

"When it comes to highly popular celebrities, there can sometimes be instances of fans invading the individual's privacy and having an unhealthy, parasocial relationship with that celebrity," Cheong said. "Swifties are not immune to this."

To combat this, Cheong said Taylor Swift Society members refuse to engage in speculation about Swift's life, track her location or entertain conspiracies about her — aside from potential music release dates, of course.

"We also understand that Taylor Swift is not a perfect person." Cheong told the News-Leader. "We admire her as an artist and a public figure, but we do not shy away from the controversy that can surround her. We welcome discussion about her shortcomings, but we emphasize approaching these discussions with respect."

Finding topics to discuss at weekly meetings hasn't been difficult, but getting new members into the door has. Cheong said the organization has had to shuffle around meeting times to better align with other organization meetings and events held on campus.

In her "Wildest Dreams" — no pun intended, Cheong said, she'd like to host a Swift-themed karaoke night, rent out a local movie theater to host an "The Eras Tour" movie watch party or host a Swift-themed drag show.

Missouri State isn't the first university to establish a Swift-centric organization. The University of Oregon established its Taylor Swift Society in 2021, and the University of Florida and The Ohio State University founded their respective organizations in 2022.

Here's how to celebrate the release of 'THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT' in Springfield

• The Tortured Poets Department Listening Party at Miss Boston's Cocktail Lounge in Brookline on Friday at 9 p.m. (free entry)

• Taylor Night at The Riff on Saturday at 8 p.m. ($15 in advance and $20 day-of)

• Swift A Tribute to Taylor Swift at Gillioz Theatre on Saturday, May 18 at 7 p.m. ($35-50 in advance)

Greta Cross is the trending topics reporter for the Springfield News-Leader. Follow her on X and Instagram @gretacrossphoto. Story idea? Email her at [email protected].

This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: Missouri State students establish Taylor Swift Society organization