Hunter Torbett Starts Rotaract Club At Cleveland State

  • Wednesday, November 25, 2015

Before Hunter Torbett even enrolled at Cleveland State Community College, he had made up his mind that he wanted to start a Rotaract Club if there wasn’t already one at the college. Rotaract is a college-level service organization affiliated with the Rotary Club. The goals of Rotaract are to better service the surrounding community through various volunteer efforts. While Rotary Clubs serve as sponsors, Rotaract Clubs decide how to organize and run their club and what projects and activities in which to become involved.

“I joined Interact, which is the high school level back in my sophomore year at McMinn Central High School,” said Mr. Torbett. “ I was extremely involved and volunteered well over 80 hours during my time there. My senior year, I was president of my Interact Club and was also District Officer of District 6780, which was the district our club was in. I wasn’t ready to give it up at the high school level. I wanted to continue my experience.” 

Mr. Torbett said he spoke with his Interact Club Sponsor Kim Cantley about his concerns, and she suggested he start a Rotaract Club in college. And that’s just what he did. He is now the president of the Rotaract Club at CSCC. 

“Our club is a community service organization. We do community service projects. We have a couple of campus improvement projects coming up, as well as a couple of community projects and even an international project called Operation Christmas Child, where we pack shoeboxes with gifts for needy children. We will be purchasing the items to stuff in the boxes and then, we are actually partnering with my high school Interact Club, and will be going to Atlanta to help at the warehouse for this project.”

Dr. Victoria Bryan, English Instructor / Rotaract Club Sponsor, said, “Hunter Torbett came to me at the beginning of the semester to discuss his investment in his Interact Club (the high school-level Rotary organization) and his interest in starting the Rotaract here at Cleveland State. I can't believe how much he's been able to accomplish. Our membership is growing, and we're already looking towards service projects that serve national and international organizations.” 

Mr. Torbett said he has been pleasantly surprised by the interest in the new club at CSCC. “I was thinking it was going to progress slowly, but we are already one of the largest clubs on campus. Next semester, we have big plans for some other international projects. We just started talking about some of these projects, but I’m already really excited about next semester! I’m also looking forward to growing the club because I believe that once people realize what we are doing, they will want to get involved. Rotaract will also help with Tennessee Promise service hours and other things like that.”

During high school, Mr. Torbett was involved in band, Central Harmony, tennis, and yearbook staff. He also volunteered at the Englewood Public Library where he volunteered 160 hours this past year. Currently, he is a Presidential Honors Scholarship recipient at CSCC, which is a merit-based scholarship for the top high school graduates who attend CSCC. Students must be accepted into the CSCC Honors Program and will also participate in a Presidential Leadership Program. He is also involved in Vocal Rhapsody, the men’s ensemble and is Parliamentarian for Student Senate.

Mr. Torbett is the son of Leon and Shelia Torbett of Englewood. 

For more information on the Rotaract Club, contact Dr. Bryan at (423) 472-7141, ext. 442. 

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