It was a little more than three years ago when the College's two coed undergraduate societies were formed -- and while Panarchy's membership remains steady, Amarna may soon face problems as membership rises.
The limit of 75 members, proposed when Amarna was formed in January of 1994, "raises a complex issue for us," said English Professor Terry Osborne, the group's faculty advisor.
Since Amarna's goals are to be intimate, but still remain open to all who wish to join, it would be a "contradiction" to limit it, Osborne said.
Amarna President Anat Levtov '98 said the group had originally decided that 75 members would be an ideal limit on membership to preserve the closeness of the group.
"Once you get to that number, relationships between people aren't the same," Levtov said.
She said the idea is not to split Amarna's current members into two groups, but to start another undergraduate organization under the same open, no-rush policy of Amarna.
However, Osborne said the group is not making any current plans, and a limit of 75 members was never made mandatory in Amarna's constitution.
"We haven't worked out logistics yet," Levtov said.
There are currently 47 members of Amarna on campus, with close to 60 members total, Levtov said. The limit of 75 members applies to the members on campus in any one term, not to total membership, Levtov said.
The growing number of members has caused a problem with space, however.
Levtov said housing is not a major concern, but meetings and parties at the group's East Wheelock Street house have become "pretty crowded."
"We are presently asking for a bigger location, but there is no reason to believe we'll get it," Osborne said. "We were lucky to get the house we have."
Levtov said it was hard for Amarna to fulfill its goal of offering alternative social space at the College because its distance from campus often keeps people away, especially in bad weather.
However, she said Amarna members genuinely love their present house and there would be "lots of considerations if we were to change our location."
Levtov said Amarna members will probably not be moving closer to campus in the near future.
"They haven't offered us the Beta house or anything," Levtov said.
The College's first official coed undergraduate society, has a somewhat smaller following but is not facing a trend of declining membership.
Panarchy, founded in Sept. 1993, currently has 14 members, according to President Oliver Schietinger '97 -- though it "always seems like closer to 18" he said.
The group also has 15 other members on campus in addition to those who live in Panarchy's physical plant on School St. in Hanover.
Schietinger said although this year's membership is in the "normal range" of members for Panarchy, "normal does not equal ideal."
Panarchy advisor Brian Tompkins '82 said the small membership does not pose a problem since Panarchy is fulfilling its minimum bed requirement and its "community functions better as a small group."
Tompkins said while Panarchy's membership tends to fluctuate, the students in the organization do not spend a lot of time trying to boost membership -- and instead focus on planning good functions that attract other people to the house, many "in conjunction with the music department."
Events sponsored by Panarchy range from concerts by campus bands to larger shows with techno and punk acts from as far away as the West Coast.
