The moment attendees walked into the first ADONIS meeting at College of DuPage (COD) on Oct. 23, upbeat K-pop music filled the room. Within minutes, students were pulled into a lively Kahoot game full of K-pop trivia and surrounded by others singing the lyrics alongside their favorite artists. Soon after, club members were decorating colorful toploaders for collectible photo cards, and learning new terms like “ult bias”—meaning your top favorite idols from your favorite groups. Everyone was friendly, welcoming and more than happy to teach each other a thing or two about the world of K-pop.
Established earlier this fall, ADONIS gives K-pop fans at COD a fun, open space to form lasting friendships and connect over Korean music and pop culture. The club is open to new fans of the genre as well as long-time “stans”—an internet term to describe a “super fan.” The club is led by five student officers and their adviser, Jacinta Yanders, a COD English and film professor.
Co-founder, event coordinator and Club Relationships Officer Meric Pedraza said although she knew others liked K-pop, she wasn’t sure where to find them on COD’s campus.
“The K-pop community is really, really large,” Pedraza said. “I was pretty sure there were other stans here, but I didn’t know where they were. So I wanted to form one of COD’s first cultural-slash-musical clubs around K-pop.”
ADONIS was originally named K-COD, Pedraza said. While straightforward, the group found the name too generic and pushed for something more creative. After brainstorming, they landed on ADONIS—a unique name with a meaning that could evolve with the club’s identity over time.
The club was initially pitched as an outdoor dance club, where members learned popular K-pop dance routines.
“We ended up going with more basic K-pop topics to get the community formed,” Pedraza said. “We want everyone to get involved, regardless of their knowledge.”
She added that the student founders hope to expand future activities to include more aspects of Korea’s pop culture.
“We really want people to know what K-pop is and that there are more groups out there besides BTS,” she said. “There are so many groups out there that people can enjoy. And so many different genres, as well. Taking a look into different groups and more of the K-pop culture is the goal.”
ADONIS is not currently affiliated with any of COD’s other cultural clubs, however they intend to collaborate with groups such as the Asian Student Association and Seoul of COD. Anyone, regardless of background and knowledge, can join ADONIS’s activities, she said.
“Since our club focuses primarily on South Korean pop culture, it would be great to team up for cultural events, performances or social activities that celebrate and highlight different aspects of Korean and broader Asian culture at our school.” Pedraza said.
After the popularization of the Netflix original “KPop Demon Hunters”, club member Delicia Bramasco said this group couldn’t have been formed at a better time.
“I think that everyone needs a space to talk about what they love, and COD already has so many spaces for different groups to come together,” she said. “Adding a K-pop club, because the community is already so big online and keeps getting bigger with more things being popularized in the media, I feel like it was about time.”
Whether you come for the music or the friendships, don’t be “Super Shy.” The members of ADONIS are ready to welcome anyone curious about the world of K-pop.
ADONIS meets every Thursday from 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. in the Berg Instructional Center, room 2445. For more information, visit their Instagram, email [email protected] or contact their adviser at [email protected].
