Knights of Columbus?

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I am an 18 year old freshman in college. My college is over 200 miles away from my home. I am interested in joining the Knights of Columbus and have done a little research on joining. I only have a few remaining questions:

My parents divorced when I was very little so I technically live in three locations and parishes (including college). Which location should I join the KofC at? I would be the first in at least two generations of my family to join the KofC so I have no help from my father or uncles on this matter. If I join at one council, can I still be a member or participate at the other councils/parishes?

I also understand that there is a financial obligation/fee. Most sites I visited said that the fee was about $35 per year. Is that correct? A fee any higher would be difficult to pay for me right now as I am planning on being in college for four years.

Any help would be great! Thank you! 🙂

jknackjr
 
jknackjr said:
I am an 18 year old freshman in college. My college is over 200 miles away from my home. I am interested in joining the Knights of Columbus and have done a little research on joining. I only have a few remaining questions:

My parents divorced when I was very little so I technically live in three locations and parishes (including college). Which location should I join the KofC at? I would be the first in at least two generations of my family to join the KofC so I have no help from my father or uncles on this matter. If I join at one council, can I still be a member or participate at the other councils/parishes?
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  1. You should join the council where you will be the most active/participative. If there is a council on/near your college campus, I would probably join that one first as you’ll be living near your college campus for the majority of the year. You can easily transfer once you move.
  2. You are more than welcome to participate in other councils activities, you just can’t hold any officer positions at multiple councils. Just bring your membership card with you to meetings and events until the other councils are familiar with who you are. Contact the Grand Knights at each council to let them know of your intentions. I’m sure they’ll be happy to hear from you.
I also understand that there is a financial obligation/fee. Most sites I visited said that the fee was about $35 per year. Is that correct? A fee any higher would be difficult to pay for me right now as I am planning on being in college for four years.
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Any help would be great! Thank you! 🙂
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jknackjr
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Don’t let financial obligations deter you. If you see a council that you like but are afraid that you can’t pay the membership fees, still contact the Grand Knight. Everyone will understand that as a college student, you have limited funds. They can work something out for you.

The amount of annual dues are up to each individual council. You may also want to ask if there are any exemplification fees; some councils do have 1st degree fees to cover the costs of supplies. Most councils do not, but it’s just something to be aware of.

Best of luck to you!
 
Thank you for the information, it really helped. I will probably join the one near my campus as my campus is near the Arch-Diocese in this area. I don’t think there is a college council in my area as I haven’t heard of them or seen anything in the Cathedral’s bulletin. I had another question but I forget it right now. I’ll post again if I remember it. Thank’s again!

jknackjr
 
jknackjr said:
Thank you for the information, it really helped. I will probably join the one near my campus as my campus is near the Arch-Diocese in this area. I don’t think there is a college council in my area as I haven’t heard of them or seen anything in the Cathedral’s bulletin. I had another question but I forget it right now. I’ll post again if I remember it. Thank’s again!

jknackjr
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You’re welcome. You can also send me a message if you have any more questions.
 
Okay I remembered what my next question is. 🙂

Do I need to bring anything to prove I am Catholic or that I have been Confirmed? I don’t have any documentation like that where I am right now because I am away at college.

jknackjr
 
jknackjr said:
Okay I remembered what my next question is. 🙂

Do I need to bring anything to prove I am Catholic or that I have been Confirmed? I don’t have any documentation like that where I am right now because I am away at college.

jknackjr
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Your parish priest can write a letter explaining this. 🙂
 
jknackjr said:
Okay I remembered what my next question is. 🙂

Do I need to bring anything to prove I am Catholic or that I have been Confirmed? I don’t have any documentation like that where I am right now because I am away at college.

jknackjr
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You are not required, nor will you even be asked, to provide any written documentation that you are a Catholic.

When you show an interest in joining, you (should, but does not always happen due to time) will meet with the council’s membership committee. They will talk about the K of C and then they will ask you a series of questions, among them questions about whether or not you’re a Catholic. Think of this as an interview, but an informal one. The K of C is not trying to pry or make you nervous, but rather make sure that you are a Catholic and that you know what you’re getting into.

But again, don’t be worried about this interview. In fact, I would treat it as an opportunity to ask as many questions about the Order as you can.

I am what they call a (Past) Charter Grand Knight. It means that I formed a council at a parish that did not previously have one and was its first ever Grand Knight. During that year, I was credited with recruiting over 40 members into the K of C. Every one of them, I conducted interviews and all of them were great. We usually met at Starbucks and talked about the Order over a cup of coffee (for me it was frozen frappucino’s). For me, this was a great way to meet every member of the inaugural year of our council. So hopefully your council interviews you like this so you have an opportunity to become friends with your new council.

Again, if I can be of any help to you, please do not hesitate to send me a message!

p.s. Even though you are not required to provide any written documentation proving that you’re a Catholic, I would be prepared to provide contact information for a family member or friend that is a member of the K of C that can vouch for you being Catholic, or the name and number of a priest that can verify the same. Not required but will make the membership committee feel better.
 
I just had my 1st Degree initiation into the Knights of Columbus on October 30th, and while I’m not able to divulge what happens, it is a very moving experience. There is no major questions asked other that if you are a practicing Catholic. I suggest that any Catholic man looking for a good way to help their community to look into the Knights of Columbus.

God bless,

BrotherOfMoses
 
I think, like any organization, that much depends on the people who are running the specific council.

You may like them, they may like you; you may like what they do, you may not.

ALL I should note to you is that the KC would be a great way to get OFF CAMPUS and spend some time among real life and real people.

I missed that in college. In college, all I had was college age people around me, in addition to faculty and staff. It really was not a normal environment because of this age factor.

I found myself a few years back wishing I’d stayed active in scouts, had been an assistant leader during my college years, just so I could step off campus and be a real person.
 
May I ask a question? Does the Grand Knight (right designation? I mean the “President” of the entire KofC) pay his own way when he travels?
 
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