Boston Globe Article on the Surge of Student Groups on College Campuses

Parents Forum
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<p>" At Harvard and campuses across the nation, the number of clubs clamoring for space, funds, and student attention has ballooned during the past 10 years.</p>

<p>Harvard now recognizes nearly 400 clubs, up from 240 a decade ago, while the number at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has doubled to 508 over that period. Dartmouth College has more than 200 groups, a 25 percent jump.</p>

<p>Many students say the more clubs, the better, because joining gives them a chance to cultivate interests, beef up r</p>

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<p>I think there was a thread on this a while back - and someone made the comment along the lines of:

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But the surge concerns some college officials, who worry that many students start clubs so they can run a group rather than be a member of an existing group

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</p>

<p>They require leadership of their applicants, but now are concerned that the leaders they admitted want to lead rather than follow?</p>

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<p>This is a surprise? Every tour I have ever been on makes the point, that its easy to start a club at our college.</p>

<p>It is no different than HS. It is much easier to start a club and make yourself president, than it is to join one, and compete for a spot. The kids at selective colleges will do the same to buttress a resume for grad school or employers.</p>

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<p>As a person who went to Harvard and has had lots of experience with advising student activities at other colleges, the difference is that at Harvard, when students start activities, they do so out of real interest, and their clubs and organizations tend to really do things, not just be window dressing for resumes.</p>

<p>If you take a look at the websites of Harvard's clubs, you'll see what I mean. </p>

<p>Probably some of the clubs are very small, but that doesn't mean that they don't do things. For instance, when I was at Harvard, one student decided to create a series showing Japanese films -- the art films, not the stupid monstor ones. He did all of the arrangements, which included his flying to Japan on his own dime and meeting with some of the top Japanese filmmakers. The student then arranged for his dorm to host the series, and did the publicity so that the campus newspaper got out the word on the series and what was important about it.</p>

<p>As a result of that film series, which many students attended, I got an appreciation of Japanese films that is still with me.</p>

<p>When I was at Harvard, one of my friends tried to create a yearbook for black students. She and another student put their hearts and souls into the project, but then, when it was almost finished, they had a personality conflict and never published the book. However, she ended up going into the media business, including serving as a judge at Cannes film festival. I'm sure that her yearbook experience taught her some lessons about teamwork that have served her well for a lifetime.</p>

<p>At Harvard, there are a lot of students with strong leadership interests and experience, who want to do things their way, which results in a lot of organizations. However, the lessons those students learn by starting and running their groups will serve them and their communities well after college where -- unlike what exists at Harvard, where lots of people are wiling to take on leadership -- they'll likely find that they are some of the few people with the willingness and experience to create and run things. In the real world, usually there are far more people willing to follow others than there are people willing to forge a path and do the hard work of taking charge.</p>

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<p>
[quote]
the difference is that at Harvard, when students start activities, they do so out of real interest, and their clubs and organizations tend to really do things, not just be window dressing for resumes.

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<p>I would give students at ALL colleges the benefit of the doubt and just not assume that only those at H have such "real interests". :)</p>

<p>However, that does not account for the nearly doubling of the number of H clubs just in the past ten years...</p>

<p>btw: no intent to pick on H or other college mentioned. But, this just seems to me to be a natural outgrowth of what I see locally at the HS level. New clubs at our HS have been growing so rapidly, that the Student Assembly had to write up official policies, procedures, and calendars.</p>

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<p>"I would give students at ALL colleges the benefit of the doubt and just not assume that only those at H have such "real interests"."</p>

<p>I've worked closely as a consultant or advisor with clubs at more than 20 colleges, and also have talked to students, including my sons, about their experiences with college clubs, so I'm speaking from experience. </p>

<p>Just as is the case in the outside world, on most college campuses, there are not many people who are willing to put the time and effort into creating and running clubs that actually do things. Even in the adult world, lots of people join clubs only to boost their resumes or meet people, not to do any work.</p>

<p>In their determination to admit students who have demonstrated academic and/or EC "passion," places like Harvard end up admitting a fairly large number of students who will put the time and effort into not only academics (not that hard for schools to find those kind of students), but also some kind of ECs. Most colleges don't have such a large number of students because the colleges don't have the overabundance of qualified applicants that would allow them to select students based on demonstrated passion (i.e. evidence that the student has put some time and effort into pursuing their interests beyond what their advisor, parents or teacher requires them to do).</p>

<p>"However, that does not account for the nearly doubling of the number of H clubs just in the past ten years..."</p>

<p>I think that this trend -- which is occurring at most colleges -- reflects how young people increasingly are wanting to do their own thing, not follow some established plan. This may be because it's clear to them that unlike what we expected when we were young, following the rules of life, corporations, etc. doesn't mean that they'll keep their jobs to retirement. It's increasingly evident to young people that they'l have to rely on their own wits when it comes to jobs, etc., not assume that some large corporation will take care of them by keeping them on payroll until retirement -- even if the worker does an excellent job.</p>

<p>I also think that the fact that houses are larger (meaning kids tend to have their own rooms, and middle class kids may also have their own bathrooms) and families are smaller now than they were when we were young (when the ideal was having 2 boys and 2 girls) means that the current generation of college students is less likely to share and compromise. Consequently, when clubs aren't quite to their liking, they're more likely to do their own thing by starting a new one instead of trying to change the one that they are in.</p>

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<p>From the globe article:.."Among the eight clubs approved at Harvard this year: an a capella group, joining more than a dozen other such groups on campus; a second global health group; a South African dance troupe that splintered from a larger African students association; an Asian-American voter group; and a Gay/Lesbian political activist group that sprouted out of the campus-wide gay/lesbian group."</p>

<p>What is really sad is that some groups, like ROTC are not allowed on campus, but a Gay/Lesbian political activist group and a South African dance troupe are approved! :confused:
The</a> ROTC Is Not Invited At Harvard (Forum)</p>

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<p>Last I looked (and I may be wrong), ROTC is not organized or run by students.</p>

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<p>ROTC units are certainly sponsored by the various branches of the military service - and the scholarships provided to those receiving are paid for by our tax dollars. </p>

<p>But the functional leadership is provided by the students, and can (and should) form a major part of their leadership development. Are the top student officers (Unit CO and Exec) accountable to the unit military officers? Yes, and for sure - but everyone else underneath them has a chain of command up through the student ranks - and has the chance to serve in the various billets over their four years. They organize all kinds of classes, courses, activities, field evolutions, balls, receptions, and other events - and are accountable for their performance. It is no club - but it can be darn good education.</p>

<p>While the ROTC is not formally welcome at Harvard, in recent years some 6 to 12 young officers have been commissioned into the services at graduation. They attend a unit located cross town at MIT, and often attain senior leadership positions. We were on the Harvard tour 18 months back and encountered a female in Naval ROTC khakis; she had on the many-rockered collar tab of the Battalion Commander, which means she was in charge of all the NROTC students in the combined units of MIT, Harvard, Tufts and few other schools - it is a very time consuming job. I regret we didn't get the chance to talk, but she was making flank speed toward her house with that "get back to the form and change fast before class" look. </p>

<p>Is ROTC a club? By no means. Does it train leaders? For sure.</p>

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<p>Elite school admission practices are no doubt contributors to the process. Applicants are implicitly encouraged to do something new and original instead of merely joining a club; little wonder that when they get to college they are still in the same frame of mind. And by selecting applicants who have demonstrated leadership, initiative, and originality, these colleges are sowing the seeds for splintered activities.</p>

<p>On the other hand, there's nothing that says a larger number of more focused clubs is a bad thing. Some will succeed, some will fail, but most will produce an educational experience.</p>

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<p>At my school, Bentley College, the amount of clubs and organizations is exploding, they now have a cap that only 2 clubs per month can present to the Activities Board to be approved. I know that a lot of the the clubs here are very active. I think since this is a business school most people expect that clubs are being formed just to boost resumes, but from my experience so far that is not true, especially in my case.</p>

<p>I think what we are seeing is that many people are searching for outlets for their interests and are finding them in their clubs. Just like on tv there has been a huge expansion in the variety of channels, people are used to watching what they like, they want the same option to just focus on their interests when becoming involved on their college campuses. College isn't just about getting away from your parents, studying hard and getting a job anymore, now it is an outlet to pursue your interests.</p>

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<p>I would place the a cappella group in a completely different category from the others. A cappella groups must, by nature, have a set number of members. If more people are interested, they need to form a new group--they can't just be an extension of an existing one.</p>

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<p>many of us have already thought of this tactic. If you start a club, you'll naturally be president. I in fact started my own chess club in HS. It was a great success, and I did it for both fun and application-boosting. The other point, then, is that it does take work to start your own club and get others to join and make it a success. It is by no means just something you can slap on a resume without expending lots of time and energy into it.</p>

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<p>
[quote]
What is really sad is that some groups, like ROTC are not allowed on campus, but a Gay/Lesbian political activist group and a South African dance troupe are approved!

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<p>If Harvard does this like MIT, the channels for instituting (or not instituting) ROTC and approving new clubs are entirely different.</p>