On my Dartmouth Outing Club First-Year Trip, my Trip leader told us all about the “free food blitz list” — a daily email that listed the extra-curricular events where free food would be served. While the list is now long gone, the strategy of luring students to attend campus events with the offer of a free lunch or catered dinner remains prevalent. This method of boosting attendance is smart, but it is also quite telling of the issue with the extracurricular life on campus.
Currently, the College boasts more than 160 clubs and organizations — even if the entire student body were on campus during this term, that would average out to 26 students per organization. That seems like an awfully low number for a college student organiza- tion, especially one that is supposed to have a meaningful impact on the community.
With the exception of groups that select their members — like a cappella or dance groups — and activities administered by the College — like Global Issues Scholars — I have noticed a lack of member engagement within undergraduate clubs and organizations. In almost every organization that I have been part of or attended an event for, there are often very few or no members in sight. Instead, there is a board of a small group of student leaders who plan events and run the programs associated with the organization. As far as I’m aware, nearly every organization keeps a mailing list but the majority do not have a regular member base. In the rare case that they do, this base would not be substantial. Each of the student leaders that I interviewed voiced a similar concern about the lack of dedicated and recurring members. There are no “member meetings,” but rather an active leadership constantly begging for attendance through colorful campus blitzes, personal invitations and, of course, dinner.
In some ways, this absence of members makes sense. For many students, the fast-paced quarter system and academic demands make it far too hectic for one to be invested in clubs in which they are not leaders. In addition, Dartmouth attracts students who generallyhad some form of leadership experience in high school. For some, it begs the question — what’s the point in being a member when you can be a “leader?” There are several organizations, and they must select new leaders at some point. As a result, students may feel little incentive to invest their time in any organization that won’t get them some sort of title or leadership role.
The problem is only made worse by the D-Plan. With organization leaders coming and going, there is a constant need to fill in the gaps in an organization’s leadership, which often makes sustaining the organization difficult — a rotating board may not be cohesive enough to enact the vision of a group of people.
The only solution to the problem of too many leaders and too few members is to cut down the number of clubs available on campus. There are many organizations that focus on identical or similar areas of interest and host the same type of events — do we really need all of them?
Once there are fewer clubs around, there will be fewer leadership positions to be filled, incentivizing underclassmen to be active, involved members in causes they feel passion for.
It would also create a larger support base for an event. With four global health events taking place on a given day, how do I pick the one to attend? Having fewer clubs would mean having fewer overlapping options, something that also saves resources and increases the value of the event by maximizing student attendance. Of course, there may be students who prefer intimate groups that offer a different atmosphere to its members. This could still be possible when the new, larger clubs create subcommittees that work on different projects under one, cohesive leadership.
A large member base, selective leadership positions and fewer competing events would strengthen the operation of our campus organiza- tions. Events would likely be better attended and therefore more likely to impact the community. Students should be able to effectively focus and develop their extra-curricular interests, and re- ducing redundancies in extra-curricular groups would help us accomplish that goal.
