Waiting eagerly for X-block to begin, Warriors for Animal Rights Club (WFARC) members run down the halls of the Old Lincoln School (OLS) to reach room 302, where creative and informational discussions on animal welfare can begin.

Connected together by their love for animals, the WFARC hopes to promote change in their community. By creating a comfortable space for conversation, the club welcomes new members with open arms.

According to founder Ezra Kleinbaum, who has been involved with animal rights activism for two years, starting the club was a great opportunity to find other people with similar interests.

Kleinbaum said the club immediately started trying to uproot the culture of animal welfare by educating both students and staff. For club members, this was all about starting right at the peak of animal product consumption in the school: the school cafeteria.

“In our first meeting, we collectively decided that we wanted to work on getting more plant-based options in the cafeteria. Since then, we’ve been working on figuring out how to actually get this done. Hopefully, once we succeed, we can move on to another campaign and get that done too,” Kleinbaum said.

Freshman Jonah German said his favorite part of the club is not only getting to meet new people but also the feeling of making progress with the animal rights movement.

“We are currently in partnership with another club working on educating the student body about the harmful effects of consuming animal products,” German said.

Both Kleinbaum and German said the club’s main goal is to advance the rights of animals, and create an environment where students are more accepting of vegetarian and vegan needs.

Club member and freshman Hanna Szelenyi has been a vegetarian since she was five years old. Szelenyi said her love of animals influenced her decision to join the club as soon as she found out about it.

“I’ve always cared about animal rights and the ethical reasons of being a vegetarian. I love animals and I know that cruelty exists so I wanted to join a club that cared enough about changing that,” Szelenyi said.

Szelenyi said there is a huge importance in educating staff and students about being environmentally friendly in order to prevent harmful effects on animals.

According to club member freshman Christina Dupre, getting more people involved with the club results in more ideas being shared. Dupre said that with the wide perspectives and ideas brought to the table, the club never runs out of campaigns to try.

Along with changes to cafeteria food, the club is also working on banning the sale of fur in Brookline. Kleinbaum said he hopes in the future, the club will grow and have more students involved.

“I would recommend this club to anyone who cares about animals. You don’t have to be vegan or vegetarian. You just have to think animals should have protections and be willing to work for that,” Kleinbaum said.

German said the club is always looking for new people to collaborate with.

“There’s a lot of teamwork involved amongst many different groups of people. We’d love to have anybody who believes in the goals that we have and wants to make the school a better place,” German said.