All About the Anthropomorphic Student Association

Anthropomorphic Student Association Official Poster

The weeks leading up to the showing of The Fandom, a movie about the history of furries, was a frustrating time for the Anthropomorphic Student Association, or the ASU officers. No matter how many posters they put up, they were always taken down.

According to an officer who goes by the fursona Lavana, close to 40 posters were torn down. “I have been harassed on campus,” Lavana said. While putting up posters a group of students approached him and said “You damn furries, would you just stop. You don't have the right to post things here.” He had never heard anything so hateful, but that encounter did not discourage Lavana.

The never-ending fight to keep their posters up was all leading up to Dec. 1, when 26 curious UMD students entered the rafters where the event was held to watch the film and stay for a Q and A. The Fandom is a 2020 documentary detailing the rise of the furry fandom; its roots, values, and the joy of self expression and creativity.

The film explains the steps the fandom has taken over the past four decades to where it is today. The transformation from hotel rooms of Sci-Ficonventions, called “furry parties,” to conventions like Anthrocon in Pittsburgh where the numbers spiked into the thousands.

According to Furscience.com “The term furry describes a diverse community of fans, artists, writers, gamers, and role players. Most furries create for themselves an anthropomorphized animal character (fursona) with whom they identify.”

This event was ASU's first event of the school year. The showing of the film was an introductory event intended to open students minds to what the fandom is really about and dispel misleading ideas.

This film encapsulates the true essence of what furries are: a collective group of people who “are just trying to be silly and create art,” Lavana said.

The furry community is a boundless fandom full of many different people. It is made up of artists who draw people fursona, storytellers who write about fursonas, fursuit makers, the convention runners, musicians and comedians who perform at conventions and more.

Being a furry means something different to everyone. To Knight Rider, a cyborg furry, it is personification of what one wants to be; it's the best parts of them condensed into a character. There are many different reasons people joined the fandom, to Knight Rider it was a way to explore his love of building and creating.

The formulation of a fursona is integral to the furry experience. Lavana detailed the process of creating his snail/fox fursona. His love for gardening manifests through the snail, and his silly, the fun loving side is seen through the fox.

Rico, a raccoon furry, chose his due to his love of night, enjoyment of junk food and his charismatic, outgoing personality. They both looked into themselves and saw their best and favorite qualities and used that to mold their fursona.

To them, being a furry is not who they are, but a fun hobby that allows them to explore their identity and express themselves through creativity. Only a small part of the furry fandom believe that they are spiritually animals and that sect of the fandom is called other-kin.

“I am a human, and I’m happy to be a human,” Rico said. To them the furry fandom is not about escaping human nature but embracing the creativity that they possess.

To many furries, including Knight Rider, there is some comfort behind the mask. It creates a sense of anonymity, giving the wearer a sense of courage and a chance to reinvent themselves. The future of this young, niche club is unknown, but the officers have faith. 

“I want this club to be self-sustaining; be more than its founding members,” Lavana said. They created this club for people who want a safe space to be themselves and enjoy each other's company.

“I think it's important to recognize that we are weird, but we don’t care. We want to be weird and we have the god-given right to be weird,” Lavana said.

Since it is the ASU’s first year as a club they are starting off slow by taking monthly moonlight walks in Bagley to get to know new members. They encourage anyone who is interested to join.