Clubs are some of the most positive forces on campus. 

If students are looking to find people to fit in with among a sea of 3,000 people, clubs can do that, according to Clubs Coordinator and English teacher Elizabeth Chapman.

Ironically, with Bellaire’s 3,000-plus students and 149 clubs, many clubs are facing falling membership rates. 

In a recent Three Penny Press Instagram poll with responses from 64 club leaders, 72 percent said they have had difficulty gaining new members this year, especially from underclassmen. Some of these clubs include Art Car Club, Quiz Bowl, Southeast Asian Students Club and Women in STEM Club. 

Art Car Club co-president junior Cathryn Vera has noticed that most of the club’s members and officers are juniors, something she is trying to amend. 

“We just want more diversity and variety in the people that are in Art Car Club, especially since there are very versatile skills that are taught in it,” Vera said. “It’d be really nice if we could reach a wider range of people.”

Out of the 20 to 30 members of Art Car Club, around 22 are juniors and seniors while only three are freshmen and sophomores. 

Similarly, Quiz Bowl’s officer board is exclusively upperclassmen, mostly seniors, who have not seen as many new people join as they would like.

Although these numbers may not reveal any immediate pressing issues, the “lack of commitment from freshmen can lead to difficulties surrounding club sustainment down the road,” according to vice president of Quiz Bowl senior Shreyas Sinha.

“Quiz Bowl is a club that relies on new and competent members, and if we want to keep sending teams in the future it’s important to continue to have new members, especially freshmen and sophomores,” Sinha said. 

Club leaders also fear that low recruitment numbers could result in their respective clubs disbanding once the current officers graduate. 

“If this continues to be a problem I think the club [will] end, which would be the worst outcome,” vice president of SEAS Club sophomore Wesley George said. “[The] major point of the club is representation, so I think losing continuation would mean [SEAS’s] meaning was useless in the end.”

Chapman, who oversees all of Bellaire’s clubs, has also noticed that there are many students, not necessarily just underclassmen, who don’t have clubs to call home yet. 

“If you walk down Main Street during Cardinal hour, there are a lot of people who are not in clubs and are not being reached yet,” Chapman said.

To combat this predicament, club leaders have begun to look for new ways to promote their respective clubs to more students. One of these methods is Club Jamboree, an event in which clubs set up tables and posters to advertise and gain new members. This year, Bellaire has hosted two Club Jamborees; the first occurred during Cardinal Camp and aimed to introduce freshmen to Bellaire clubs, and the second took place on Sept. 11 during Cardinal Hour for the entire school.

Art Car Club took advantage of both Club Jamborees, targeting underclassmen specifically because the officer board is older and “doesn’t know as many freshmen anymore.” 

“[Club Jamboree] is the time when all the clubs are trying to get a newer and broader range of members,” Vera said.

Women in STEM Club also attended Club Jamboree, but co-president junior Kashika Adhikari wasn’t “too happy” with the amount of engagement.

“We got [new members] through Club Jamboree, but not [the amount] we hoped to have,” Adhikari said. Since then, Adhikari has turned to Instagram to announce meeting dates and events. 

“We have an Instagram post every meeting and frequent communication through Remind,” Adhikari said.

Quiz Bowl, another Club Jamboree participant, has planned additional trivia nights and Cardinal Clashes to increase member engagement. The club has also worked with teachers of sophomore and freshman classes to create extra credit opportunities to encourage students to attend events and meetings.

Additionally, all Bellaire club meeting dates for the week are now sent to families on Sundays through Cardinal E-News. Chapman has also worked to create a list of Instagram handles and Remind codes of all clubs so students can follow clubs that interest them. This list can be found posted on the wall in the cafeteria. 

The motivation to lead a club could stem from wanting to show community involvement to colleges, but for Sinha, it’s more.

“Our president and other [officers] have all become dedicated to improving the club and making it a fun place for its members,” Sinha said. “[For us] it’s not about resume-packing, so having people who’ve been here for a while is important to maintain the leadership’s passion.”