As part of a wider effort to organize clubs, Andover is implementing a more detailed club renewal process this year, which will also be coordinated through a new platform, Club Hub. These new systems aim to alleviate several issues surrounding clubs at Andover, including insufficient faculty advisor involvement.
To apply for renewal, clubs must now disclose how often they meet, average meeting attendance, and membership recruitment. The school will also consider the existence of any other similar clubs more critically than in the past before deciding whether or not to accept the club.
Additionally, club advisors are now required to attend at least the first and last meeting of each term, and one additional gathering. Other responsibilities include authorizing any publicity or advertising, such as Instagram posts, fliers, and merchandise, and approving all board applications before they are made available to students, and as well as being an active participant in selecting new board members.
Christopher Capano, Director of Student Activities, explained the reasoning behind the school’s increased selectiveness about granting recognition.
“As we’ve been learning about clubs, we’ve learned that there are a lot of them. There might even be too many; they get very specific, so we want to make sure that all the clubs have enough members to make them worthwhile… We’ve also heard some clubs get started and exist on paper [but] they don’t actually do anything… We just want to make sure [clubs] have a process for getting new members and keeping them involved, teaching them how to lead the club after those Seniors move on,” said Capano.
Without official backing from the school, clubs will not be able to advertise events on the Weekender or receive funding from the Student Activities Office, according to Capano. However, due to the wide variety of clubs on campus, there will not be a rigid standard or specific numeric targets each club must meet. Capano illustrated his thought process when evaluating clubs through two examples: a very small club that meets regularly and a club that meets infrequently but has large turnout when they do.
“We’d want to ask why is the [first] club so small? Are they trying to reach out to students to try and find new members? Are they being inclusive and welcoming? If not, that might be a problem. There is nothing inherently ‘wrong’ with a small dedicated group depending on why,” wrote Capano in an email to The Phillipian.
Capano continued, “In the other case I think I’d want to inquire why they meet so infrequently if it seems to be very popular. Would it make sense to meet more often? Is there a reason keeping them from meeting more often? We will do our best to look at all the factors and then decide what is the best way to proceed.”
Some students believe the new system puts more pressure on smaller clubs. Though Zadie Robinson ’26 supported the requirements overall, she expressed how the new requirements may have some adverse effects on how small clubs approach recruiting new members.
