Discrepancies Between Student Club Involvement on Campus
For such a small school, St. Lawrence University boasts a surprising amount of extracurricular organizations, ranging from academically-oriented clubs to theme houses and Greek life. As the majority of these groups are student-run, large discrepancies exist between their engagement levels. Although some difference in involvement is to be expected, the extent of dissimilarity currently seen on campus may be having negative implications, both for students interested in joining clubs and the organizations which promise to provide on-campus communities.
To gauge whether a more standard level of club engagement would improve SLU’s social environment, I talked to members of several different student affiliations about their groups’ operations and turnout of events.
DEI & Social Chair of the Outing Club, Aoife Cunningham ’27, detailed the intensive nature of being an OC house member. “We try to have at least three trips a week,” Cunningham said. “There are no ‘set’ meetings [for casual members], but we do have a house meeting every Sunday.” She explained that although these meetings can make the OC feel like a “full-time job sometimes,” the time commitment is necessary to plan the many trips offered by the theme house.
Cunningham also discussed the current demographic of club events. “It is typically a similar group of people,” she said, “but we do have a variety of people join our trips from all experience levels, which is pretty cool.” Even if the OC were to meet more often, Cunningham claimed that the amount of interest in the theme house would likely be the same.
Run club executive board member Abby Fahey ’27 said that the run club’s structure tends to remain consistent week-to-week. “We host four days a week, Monday through Thursday,” Fahey said. “There are pretty much set [runs], but we may change meeting times and locations once the weather changes.” Currently, the meeting schedule includes a 7:30 a.m. run on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and 4:30 p.m. run on Mondays and Wednesdays.
Although there is a consistent structure to meeting times, Fahey reported more variability amongst the group of people seen at each get-together. “There are some people who regularly attend runs, but
often it’s a variety of different people every week,” said Fahey. “Usually we run two to three miles at an easier pace as the club welcomes beginners” she said. However, the length of the run varies depending on the preference of each days’ group.
Luke Josephson ’26 of Java detailed the extensive time commitment that comes with being an employee at the Java Barn. “I would say we meet twice a week, including shows,” Josephson said. Shows typically require four to five hours of time, “and then [on] Sunday nights a typical meeting is about an hour and a half.” When accounting for the organization and planning required between meetings and setup, Josephson reports putting about 10-12 hours a week into his role.
If Java were to become more time consuming, it would likely have negative consequences. “I think the amount of time [required] is already inherently discouraging,” said Josephson. “I think people would be less interested if we met more often,” he concluded.
These conversations highlighted that matters of scheduling and time commitment are typically a reflection of the structure and purpose of student organizations. Thus, the question of whether or not clubs should become more equal in engagement remains subjective. “For a normal club, yes I think it can be confusing trying to manage…all the clubs and organizations I want to be a part of and when they’re meeting,” said Luke Josephson ’26. “If it was more standardized…I think it would be good. But also, you know, clubs meet when they want to.”