Anyone who has watched television in the last decade remembers “Good Luck Charlie,” a flagship Disney Channel sitcom with teen actor Bridgit Mendler at its center. Years later, Mendler has found a loyal fanbase in a new Binghamton University club — the Bridgit Mendler Association.
For Derrick Weisburd, president and founder of the club and a junior majoring in industrial and systems engineering, the idea was conceived at the beginning of his college career, in a course called “Thinking Like Leonardo da Vinci.” Weisburd and his friends had to choose a modern-day da Vinci, someone who was a contemporary jack-of-all-trades. His group decided on Mendler — an actor, musician and Ph.D. candidate.
“It so happened that multiple people in the class chose her based on her credentials,” Weisburd said.
Weisburd and his friends decided to create a comedic Instagram account dedicated to Mendler last fall, which ended up transcending its original intentions as a joke and becoming something bigger. According to Dianna Nielsen, treasurer of the club and a junior double-majoring in mathematics and economics, one of their posts gained many likes and led to the creation of a GroupMe.
“We had like 50 people join this GroupMe, and actually having people interact us with on a GroupMe made it a lot more real,” Nielsen said. “People were like, ‘When is the first meeting gonna be?’ We had a fanbase so we had to actually organize stuff.”
At the beginning of this semester, Weisburd, Nielsen and the rest of their friends began to make the club a real entity. They set up their general interest meeting (GIM) in October, and are in the process of chartering.
“You have to get initial interest in the club so we are in that process,” Nielsen said. “I think you have to collect about 100 signatures so we are almost done with that. And then you have to have attendance at a few club meetings first. We are at the start to apply to the [Student Association] to become preliminary-chartered for a semester, and then you can become fully chartered.”
BU’s Bridgit Mendler Association has a long road ahead to becoming chartered, but they seem to have the utmost confidence in achieving a charter and creating an environment where anyone can come and show their love for Mendler.
“There should be good balance of clubs of more professional development, but also clubs that are more just fun and no real obligations,” Nielsen said. “You can just show up and karaoke to Bridgit.”
The goal to build a stress-free club focusing on specific, enjoyable interests stemmed from noticing similar clubs on campus, according to Weisburd.
“One of my biggest inspirations for the actual creation of the club was the Taylor Swift Club on campus, as well as the Cheese Club, where those niche interests have such special places in the people’s hearts,” Weisburd said. “And people like to joke about it but in the end it’s a place for people to come together and destress.”
As a figure to dedicate an entire club to, Mendler carries lots of accomplishments and versatility in her career. She was a famous actor at a young age from “Good Luck Charlie” and “Lemonade Mouth,” and then released the acclaimed album “Hello My Name Is…” with such hits as “Ready or Not” and “Hurricane.” Mendler also delved into philanthropy, working on charity marathons and campaigns. Currently, she finished her graduate degree at MIT and is now working on her Ph.D. for MIT’s Center for Constructive Communications and their Social Machines group.
Weisburd admired Mendler’s diverse career and found it to be relatable.
“Having that such wide range of interests as a person who is studying engineering here but also being in an a capella group and doing theatere … [it’s] having that creative balance with my field,” Weisburd said. “I just think it’s very inspirational so choosing her was an easy pick because I felt myself represented [with] what she did paving her career path [in] her own way.”
The Bridgit Mendler Association has many exciting events planned, including collaborations and, most recently, a “Lemonade Mouth” movie night on Wednesday, Oct. 26. For more social events, and for news of future events, check out their Instagram at @bubridgitmendlerassociation.