Nimo Ren '25
On September 25, the Faulkner Reading Room was bustling with people, club leaders and faculty advisors listening with varying degrees of interest and frustration as the new club application process was announced. Many leaders in their third or fourth year of clerking were exasperated, wondering why they needed to sit through the lunch, while freshman listened intently, jotting down notes.
So why the new system? At the beginning of last year, AFS boasted 38 student-led clubs. By June, only around ten consistently met and upheld attendance expectations. What was the reason for this dramatic “club collapse”?
Yael Smith Posner ‘25, clerk of Jewish Affinity Group and former clerk of Womxn’s Empowerment, believes one reason was the lack of clarity surrounding what is needed to start and uphold a successful club.
She explains that while the information wasn’t secret, there wasn’t a resource to “streamline the club process so that it [was] accessible to everyone and everyone [got] the same information.”
While there were ways to learn about the club process, the information wasn’t readily available, especially for students who were new to club life.
Smith Posner said, “The question I had was what resources could AFS be providing those clubs so that they succeeded? Because club success is community success.”
After a few meetings with Assistant Director of Upper School Tina Yen over the past year, Smith Posner started working with members of STAC to understand their takes on the issue. Then, she drafted a document with the club committee’s help entitled “How To: For Club Clerks.”
This document provides most of the basic information on how to start a club, reserve rooms, fundraise, budget, and overall have a successful year as a clerk. The majority of this document isn’t new, but it’s the first time it’s ever been outlined in a format everyone can access.
Smith Posner said the document “will support freshman leaders to start clubs and not have to feel like they’re competing against [a senior’s] knowledge of clubs.”
While the document is a win-win for everyone, most aspiring and current clerks are concerned about the application process. Previously, there was no formal written application, and most clubs proposed were accepted.
This year, students must submit a year plan with their application so that clerks, faculty advisors, and Yen will be on the same page about scheduled events and be able to plan accordingly. Not only will this maximize the amount of events that are able to run this year, Smith Posner hopes it will increase club attendance and member engagement.
Smith Posner said, “By clubs having a year plan and being transparent with their members about meeting times, club members will be able to mark their calendars and come to every meeting.”
If all club members know when a major event is, they can plan to focus more energy on that club leading up to the event. Hopefully, this will prevent the previous dip in club engagement.
Yen will be reviewing applications, and though Smith Posner won’t be making the decision on whether or not certain clubs run, she emphasizes that this is a pilot program, one step in a process of continuing revelation, and if it doesn’t work out, it can always be changed.
Smith Posner said, “I hope that students feel open to offering feedback, to trying the new system, and seeing what becomes easier, and if there are things that are becoming harder.”
The purpose of the application process isn’t to punish club clerks, or make starting a club more difficult and tedious.
The goal is to get clerks and faculty advisors to work together, plan ahead, and ensure that if 38 clubs start meeting this fall, all 38 will accomplish their goals and still be thriving in the spring.