The pajama-clad girls sprawled on the floor eating smores and watching movies. They sang songs, played games and chatted all night in a residential college lounge. They were Girl Scouts having a sleepover, but they weren’t of the Brownie or Junior variety.

All in their late teens and early 20s, members of Northwestern Campus Girl Scouts say they’re reveling in the joys of childhood but trying to make a difference as adults.

The 10-member group, which made its debut eight months ago, is focusing on making a name for itself in the Girl Scout community, becoming a model for Evanston Girl Scout troops, providing NU women a place to be themselves and maybe even selling cookies.

“That’s what a Girl Scout is in my mind — someone who knows how to have fun and be a kid but can also be an adult and get down to business,” said Campus Girl Scouts treasurer Katharine Magnuson, a Music junior.

Members plan to hold their first meeting of the year at 7 p.m. Wednesday in Room 2A of Norris University Center.

Last year the NU Campus Girl Scouts had sleepovers, took trips to Chicago and discussed getting involved in the Chicago-area Girl Scouting programs, she said.

“Our main goal is to get other people interested and assist Girl Scout troops in the Evanston area,” Magnuson said.

Campus Girl Scouts is a national program spanning 29 states with 1,300 members in more than 100 universities, according to the Girl Scouts of the U.S.A. Web site.

“The girls are involved in community, council and campus activities,” said Laurie Steele, media consultant for Girl Scouts of the U.S.A.

“They are girls of older age who are interested in continuing in Girl Scout programming as adults. They aren’t active adults yet, but they aren’t girls either.”

Campus Girl Scouts has been around since 1920, Steele said. The program’s goal is to help girls with the transition into college and help them get involved in a new community.

NU’s founding members advertised Campus Girl Scouts as an alternative to sorority rush Winter Quarter, and NU Campus Girl Scouts President Cara Moultrup calls the group “the original sorority.”

“We do all the kinds of things that sororities do — volunteer work, social activities, events with the community — with the stipulation that anyone can join,” Magnuson said. “There’s no, ‘We don’t want you.'”

Some students, however, aren’t as accepting of the Girl Scouts.

“Last year when the (Girl Scouts) signs were up, I heard someone behind me in the lunch line say ‘Girl Scouts, is that a joke?'” recalled Moultrup, a Medill sophomore who’s been involved with Girl Scouts since first grade. “I think it’s a little bit of left over middle school stuff.”

Magnuson also said she’s seen a desire for popularity negatively affect membership.

“As it goes along, girls drop out because it isn’t cool and popular,” she said. “It’s good to show younger girls that it’s a good thing to continue. You’re not a parental figure, but you’re not a peer. We’re the big kids to look up to. We’re kind of role models.”

But there is one difference. Magnuson says the group members would like to sell cookies — though the odds are against them.

“They can’t sell cookies,” Steele said. “It’s not allowed. Cookies are for girls.”