Commentary

Hitting “Unsubscribe”

I never would have discovered what activities I was passionate about without the Club Rally. Last year, as a Junior, I signed up for more clubs than I could count, went to various meetings and filtered out the clubs that I was not interested in or unable to commit to. The Club Rally showed me the great variety of activities that Andover has to offer, and I was inspired by the passion of the club leaders. I was able to easily sign up for as many clubs as I pleased by simply writing down a name and an email address.

While the Club Rally effectively presented to me the numerous clubs Andover had, I found that there were significant flaws regarding how the clubs managed the emailing system after new members signed up. These systematic drawbacks affected both me and other students.

The current emailing system for clubs allows only the leaders of the club to edit the email list. Therefore, students who want to stop attending the club are required to email the club leaders directly. From personal experience, I know that for new underclassmen, sending an email directly to the club head asking to be taken off the mailing list can be awkward and daunting. Furthermore, club heads rarely edit the email list on Blackboard and often find the program difficult to maneuver.

The mail server also gives students only 300 MB of space. This space, as many students already know, can run out very quickly. Most students do not have room in their inboxes for emails from clubs that do not interest them, since they need space for more pertinent school-related emails. Students can also lose important emails about clubs that interest them in the process of sifting through club emails that are unimportant to them.

To limit the number of potentially awkward interactions between new club members and club heads and decrease the number of unnecessary emails, an “unsubscribe” button for each club’s email list should be developed. This way, students could pick and choose the clubs that they harbor a genuine interest for without feeling the burden of offending club leaders.

It would also be beneficial for the club leaders if they have a more accurate email list which includes only members who have a sincere interest in their clubs. Leaders would be able to more accurately gauge the number of members in their club and organize activities accordingly.

The Club Rally provides a valuable chance for students to find their passions at Andover and get involved in the numerous opportunities available. Following the Club Rally, however, our community must make sure that new students and club members are able to easily choose what clubs interest them.