OU Color Guard is a student organization and club sport that allows students to learn or continue color guard in college.
Whether students have previous experience or are new to the activity, the organization provides a space to develop their skills while connecting with other students passionate about color guard.
Members participate in free spin events, learn routines and have opportunities to perform for the university and local high schools. Combining dance and movement, color guard involves flag routines alongside choreography and music.
Cameron Everett, a senior studying psychology, serves as president and co-founder of OU Color Guard. Everett shares that it was a long process. Now, the club has grown over the last few years and is always welcoming new members.
“It’s honestly one of the best feelings ever,” Everett said. “Especially since, at least when I came to college I didn’t have that many friends and wasn’t a part of any clubs where I actually felt like I had a place there, so getting to cultivate my own culture for people who enjoyed guard as much as I have has been really amazing.”
Through this shared interest, members come together to practice and learn routines while developing a sense of community. The organization stays centered around guard and giving students a safe space to develop their skills along with opportunities to perform.
“We kind of do our own thing,” Everett said. “We do a lot of parades, we do the homecoming parade and the Honey for the Heart parade.”
The Honey for the Heart parade is held by Passion Works Studio over Halloween weekend.
“We do clinics at local high schools around here,” Everett said. “We have routine nights, we do different getting to know you events outside of spinning flags. And then this year, we’re hoping to put together a competition show.”
The OU Color Guard is planning to put together a winter competition team for flags. Additionally, Everett shares that the process of practicing for the parades takes place during tryouts and routine nights.
Ky Crampton, a junior studying political science pre-law, is this year’s secretary for the organization. Crampton shares how the OU Color Guard meetings are structured, from practices and routines to spending time together outside of the color guard.
“A big part of the group is a lot of bonding and getting to know each other,” Crampton said. “Not every time we’ll be spinning, but most of the time we’ll be spinning. It’s just a really big happy family we have going on there.”
Crampton said she began her journey with Color Guard before she entered high school, and described it as “inspiring” to see a Color Guard group at Ohio University.
“Color guard itself is kind of an auxiliary,” Crampton said. “It’s a performance-based thing. It’s a visual for people’s eyes to see what the music is trying to communicate.”
The organization’s emphasis on community goes hand-in-hand with its focus on performance. While members have the opportunity to bond and spend time together outside of spinning, they also come together to practice their skills.
The sense of belonging extends to new members and those looking to get more involved with OU Color Guard. The club aims to make a space where students of all experience levels can feel comfortable learning and developing new skills.
Kylie Metheney, a junior studying sociology criminology, serves as one of the social media members on the board for OU Colorguard. Metheney emphasizes how the club is always welcoming members.
“I would totally recommend it to anybody,” Metheney said. “I would recommend it to anybody who hasn’t even touched a flag before. It’s a great way to learn leadership. It’s a great way to bond with people, and that feeling of expressing yourself through music is one of the best feelings you could have.”
For OU Colorguard, the organization offers more than just the opportunity to spin and perform. It provides a space to bond through a shared activity with those who enjoy it.
As students continuously learn new routines and build connections, the organization creates a community where members can feel comfortable creating their own experience while being a part of the guard.
OU Color Guard plans to perform in the OU Homecoming and Honey for the Heart parades again this October. Students interested in joining the group can visit the OU Color Guard Instagram.
For those interested in attending a meeting, OU Color Guard meetings typically occur Sundays from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m., and Thursday practices take place from 6 p.m to 8 p.m. in Ping Recreation Center, Area C.
