The Boys Club chapter at UFV was established in 2024 by Ryan Poirier and Max Pinchin; two students who found that a sense of community was lacking on our commuter campus.
“When we came to UFV, there [was] not too much of a community here, we found. So we were thinking, ‘what can we do to kind of add to that?’ And we made some calls.”
The pair were originally introduced to the BCN at their high school, Brookswood Secondary, enticed by free food and field trips. However, as Poirier shared, they quickly realized that it was more than just hanging out and filling up their stomachs.
“[We were able to] express ourselves, get our emotions out there, in a comfortable environment. We really liked our time there.”
The BCN at Brookswood reflected a classroom-like environment, offering course credit for work done within the club. Poirier explained:
“Your assignments are having these deep conversations. We even had assignments with due dates on emotional intelligence or things like that.”
At UFV, the Boys Club looks different to its original format for middle and high school students. Changes were made to adapt to the needs of men pursuing higher education, including career talks from financial advisors and investment bankers.
“In high school, we find it’s a little bit different, taking these kids who might not have the greatest opportunities … their family life is pretty bad, or financial situation is pretty bad, and they’ll take those kinds of kids and give them opportunities they wouldn’t normally have. With Boys Club here … we’re trying to take them from the high school format, which is taking them from a bad place turning into a good place, and now we’re trying to take them from a good place and turning it into a great place.”
As you might be able to guess from the name, the Boys Club is a space for men. However, the network has female influence — for starters, the organization is supported by United Nations Women (Global Champion for Gender Equality). When asked what their response might be to someone who may be apprehensive toward the Boys Club, Poirier shared as much.
“Well, I think one of the network’s biggest supporters are women … being able to support guys and take them from potentially negative circumstances, and bring them to a better place will just drastically change how they contribute to society. And I think, if you take a look at guys who are negative toward women, they’re obviously not going to be in the best place, right? So we’re taking guys and we’re really supporting them. We’re teaching them how to be better in social circumstances.”
Though women may not be included in the day-to-day scope of Boys Club meetings, it doesn’t mean they’re not positively impacted by the work done by the network. The BCN shares that many of their advocates and speakers include women, and imply that, by improving boys’ lives through the network, they inadvertently improve the lives of girls.
According to the BCN website, many of the unhealthy social behaviours seen in today’s young men and boys can be attributed to the content they consume online. Social media can influence the way boys see the world and the ways they exist in relation to others.
“We’re not really trying to denounce any view on masculinity. Obviously, online, you’re gonna find these very provocative takes on masculinity [where] someone [is] just talking into a microphone, looking at a screen. Sometimes people will take that as masculinity in theory, and they’ll be addicted to looking at those. What we’re trying to do is kind of express masculinity in practice. And I don’t think the two are very much alike at all,” said Poirier.
When asked to speak on this, in relation to current popular content promoting toxic masculine ideals on platforms such as TikTok and Instagram, Pinchin shared that with the Boys Club, they hope to offer guidance and support.
“[Boys] have a space to come and talk to us about it, talk to some of the other guys in a room where they feel safe to talk about it … It gives them more space to learn and grow as a human for themselves.”
The UFV Boys Club meets at 11:45 a.m. every Monday. For more information on upcoming events, check out their Instagram, @boysclubufv, or sign up through their rubric page
