The Life Cycle of a Carleton Club

Clubs at Carleton

For a school that’s so proud of its traditions, many of Carleton’s 200+ student-run clubs are surprisingly young. Oh, there are a few storied organizations—the Reformed Druids of North America, the Singing Knights, the Carleton Association of Nature and Outdoor Enthusiasts—whose foundings date back into antiquity (meaning, like, the ‘60s). But given how many of our clubs were founded in recent memory, you’d be forgiven for thinking that the student org scene was pretty sparse just a couple decades ago. In reality, the Carls of the past enjoyed just as many clubs as we do now. It’s just that most of those clubs are now dead.

That may sound ominous, but I would argue it actually reflects well on our students. The number of clubs we have at Carleton simply couldn’t be maintained by tradition alone—we have so many only because Carls have the ingenuity and drive to found new clubs as quickly as old ones die out.

Crunching the numbers

To prove my point, let’s do some basic math. Last year, Carleton had 222 student-led organizations (including club sports) and a student population of 2,019. That’s about one club for every 9 students. Most Carleton clubs are led by a team of one to three officers. Let’s say there are 500 positions total. When we factor in that a lot of people lead multiple clubs or lead the same club over multiple years, I’d estimate that anywhere from a quarter to a third of students will be club leaders at some point in their Carleton career. 

The Lifecycle

Being part of a club is often only a minor commitment. In fact, many students are in several. But leading a club is real work. You have to have a strong passion for whatever the club is about—whether it’s playing board games, or birdwatching—to want to lead. Because Carleton is so small and our students have such varied interests, sometimes a club’s leaders graduate without having anyone to pick up the mantle, and the club dissolves.

What makes Carleton so exceptional is the proportion of students who are willing to be leaders. Some people become club leaders because they came into Carleton with a certain hobby that matched an existing club. Some had never even tried bridge or badminton or ballroom dancing before they joined an associated club and discovered a new passion. Others took it upon themselves to start a brand new club. All of these are awesome, but the third category is the most essential. Without new clubs being founded constantly, we wouldn’t have the variety that we do.

What this says about Carleton and Carls

The frequency with which Carls start new clubs speaks volumes about who we are as a student body. This is a school where not only do we have a lot of different interests, but we’re unabashedly passionate about those interests, and we want to get our peers passionate about them too. That’s how niche clubs that pop up on the initiative of just one or two people—such as the Sailing Club—end up with substantial memberships. Also, it’s super easy to get a club funded. The Carleton Student Association Senate (basically, our elected student government) has a giant pot of money every year that they love to throw at people with fun club ideas. They’ll pay for posters, sporting equipment, or whatever else you need. 

The upshot for prospective Carls: if you want to join a club that matches your interests, but we don’t have one, then come to Carleton and found it. We’d love to have you.