This fall, Dean of Students Ana Campos unveiled a new club policy that involved the creation of a set of standards to meet for a club to be recognized in one of three tiers. Despite the intention to ensure that the number of clubs is kept to a sustainable level, some club leaders have begun to consider the policy tedious, the attendance requirements for Tier 2 and Tier 3 clubs pointless, and the need for a written constitution unnecessary.

Yet, despite the laboriousness of its execution, the spirit of the policy — to focus student club life on passion — should be upheld. There is no better time for us students to properly utilize the club system for its worth and intent. Instead of prioritizing creating a multitude of clubs for college applications or allowing clubs to stagnate as lunch get-togethers for friend groups, it is important for us students, beyond the policy, to focus our clubs on our passion and let go of the ones that aren’t having any impact. 

At U-High, a prevalent view is that students have to either found a club or be in a leadership position to have their college applications shine. This is untrue. By creating clubs solely for the purpose of applying to college, students not only take up scarce funding and meeting spaces, they aren’t even meeting their own goals. According to college counselor Christian Brown, while founding a club can show extracurricular interests, it should be centered around actual passion and community-building. Ms. Brown recently was reminded of this lesson after speaking to a university admissions officer. She explained that students are limited in thinking that starting a club is one of the only ways to show their passion, and clubs with real, honest effort behind them shine through during the admissions process. 

It is disheartening to continuously hear from students that many U-High clubs have gone against this tenet of community building. Students who might feel really excited to join a community based on identity or a common interest can feel rejected or disappointed because it has stagnated into an exclusive friend group. 

Certainly, not all Lab clubs are like this. When clubs are based on true interests, this dedication has shone; clubs have invited a multitude of different students, held effective assemblies and continued after leaders graduated. The most successful clubs have continued beyond their founder’s time at U-High and engaged through assemblies and workshops with the student body. The system to express your passion and find your new community is there. 

So, if you’re a student who has founded or leads a club that seems to have decayed, or which was founded for the purpose of college applications, it’s time to let it go or make a change. Many students could be doing something with their deep-seated passions in the room that you’re using.