By Genevieve Turner, Managing Editor of Design
Susquehanna University prides itself on being an inclusive and diverse institution. One particular thing that proves this is the fact that we have over 150 clubs and organizations on campus. For an institution with around 2,300 students, the number of clubs and organizations is impressive.
Between Greek Life, intramural sports, Future Business Leaders of America, and even Chess club, there is something for everyone. Within Susquehanna’s 150 clubs, there are a variety of student publications.
There are multiple literary magazines, as well as the newspaper and satirical paper. Every semester more and more literary publications are being created, along with many other clubs. While it is great to see the drive of students to create these different clubs to fulfill their needs, the question arises of how much is too much.
Of course, we want everyone to find a safe space on campus that fulfills their interests. But with the number of clubs growing and the student body remaining the same, how can we expect the level of participation to also increase?
As a member of one of the literary publications on campus, I have seen firsthand how difficult it is to find and keep writers for my own publication. This isn’t a unique problem, however, as I have heard from members of the other publications how they struggle with the same thing.
What this essentially comes down to is that while working so hard to become a diverse and inclusive institution, I feel that Susquehanna has started to become very separated and isolated. There are so many clubs for people to join and it becomes very difficult to communicate and also support other organizations.
There is almost no collaboration between organizations, and there is a lack of communication about fundraisers and events. As a student, I almost never hear about them because there are too many to keep track of. Don’t get me wrong, I love Susquehanna and I couldn’t have chosen a better place to pursue my degree, but what I don’t love is how hard it is to make connections with other people for such a small school.
Students hardly ever intermingle and get outside of the comfort zones of their individual clubs. And as the semesters pass, more clubs get approved just for there to be hardly anyone to join them. Something needs to be done or this endless cycle of clubs will continue to fail due to low participation.