The Club Program In the Upcoming School Year

by Ellie C. ‘24

This just in! Starting this August, club meetings will take place solely on Tuesdays and Fridays during fifth period from 2:50-3:30 PM. This dramatic shift from having clubs every day, either during lunch or fifth period, raises the question - how did we get here? 

Over the past few years, participation in the club program at Bryn Mawr has skyrocketed, resulting in numerous new clubs during different time periods in the day. But while this shift in club culture has allowed students to explore any and all aspects of their identity and interests, the time commitment and pressure to stay involved has posed some struggles. As Ms. Fetting, the Dean of Students, explained, “We’ve seen some challenges with people trying to juggle a lot of extracurricular commitments, either from the student side or the faculty side/advisor side. And as a result, [people are] feeling like I love these activities, and I don’t have any downtime.” 

Bryn Mawr students are famously known for overscheduling themselves. In the words of Mia Boydston '23, “students have a tendency to overachieve, so they will fill up all their time.” Essentially, the more time students are given the opportunity to work, the more students will utilize it to continue working, which results in a need for “forced downtime,” (Boydston). In addition, this new change will give teachers more time to enjoy lunch and relax with their colleagues. However, some students are upset about the new restrictions on their club opportunities. Mia, a co-leader of Neurodiversity Ally Group, Arab-American Perspectives, and current Vice President of Arts Council, expresses the obstacles some students will face: “You have to choose very specifically what you want and it does confine your ability to identify and find certain things out…It kind of sucks because the one piece of advice everyone gives you as you enter high school -- they’re like ‘Try everything!’” She raised a hypothetical situation, stating if someone wanted to join a club, they could usually just visit one time and see if it works for them, but because time will be so limited next year, students will have to learn how to prioritize and indulge in activities they already are affiliated with.

The new time constraints have also called the presence of certain clubs into question. This causes some frustration for smaller clubs and their leaders. To quote Eleni Antoniades '24, co-leader of Philosophy Club, “We [smaller clubs] are still important and should be respected in that way.” Now that there is less time for clubs, smaller club leaders such as Eleni worry about attendance and maintenance.

Nevertheless, there is some consensus that this new change in the club program will prove beneficial in the long run. Ms. Fetting says, “We throw a lot at Bryn Mawr. And whether it’s classes, extracurriculars, or clubs, there’s always something you could be doing. And I think it’s our job as adults to kind of protect students from overscheduling themselves, to the extent that we can.” She acknowledges that some sacrifices will have to be made, but, right now, she is trying to do what is best for the Bryn Mawr student population.