New Rules for Clubs
By ADIZA ALASA ‘19
On Tuesday, September 18, all heads of clubs, organizations, publications, and affinity spaces on campus attended a meeting where they learned the details of their new responsibilities. This year, clubs at Milton have three new guidelines to follow: they must now write a constitution, host one event per school year, and submit bi-yearly updates of their activities.
These rules have been outlined by Ms. Reiser, Director of Student Activities, with consultation from Mr. Rodriguez, Director of Multicultural Programming.
Each club constitution will include a framework for that organization. Members of each organization will have access to the document which will contain the club’s mission statement, making clear the goals that group has for the year. Constitutions will also include responsibilities for club heads and board members and details regarding membership, meetings, election processes, and, if applicable, affiliation with external groups.
The constitution policy seeks to bestow each club with a concrete mission which remains consistent year to year and should allow both members and leaders to know the standard protocol. “There have been situations where students…[apply] for these leadership positions, [and] all of a sudden it’s a new process than it was the year before. And that’s unsettling,” Ms. Reiser commented on clubs before this new rule.
Although the idea of a single, long-lasting club constitution may seem extreme, heads have the ability to edit as their organization changes, so long as they include the details of their amendment process within the document. All of these documents will be electronically filed in the Student Activities Office.
Additionally, clubs now must hold on event, either a weekend activity or assembly, each year. These events should showcase to the general student body what the organizations is about . “There are so many amazing opportunities here and so many passions, and I don’t think the entire community knows [about them]” Ms. Reiser said. In her mind, the visibility that these events will provide will yield increased participation in the clubs. Also, clubs will benefit from hosting weekend activities because they will receive funding from the Student Activities Association.
The final new guideline is the requirement to submit an update twice a year to the Student Activities Association on what the club has been doing and any progress made on fundraising.
While the changes these new club rules pose may seem irrelevant to some people, these regulations go beyond the obvious goals—these new responsibilities are designed to be easy to follow for active clubs and will compel the less active clubs into putting in the work that comes with student leadership.
Feedback from club heads has been mixed. Lily Wright (I), co-head of Habitat for Humanity, is hopeful that the addition of the new rules will have a positive impact on the way clubs are run, saying “I think if [Ms. Reiser and Mr. Rodriguez] follow through and check up on everyone, [the implementation of these new rules] will be really effective and have have a beneficial impact”.
On the other hand, Esteban Gutierrez (I), co-captain of Speech Team and co-head of FLLAG, is wary of how effective these new rules will be.He explains, “I think it’s just another thing people are going to do to make sure their club is approved by the school.” For Gutierrez, writing the constitution poses an additional burden on the things to do in an already overwhelming senior fall.
Regardless of how club leaders feel about the new changes, these restrictions will undoubtedly create a major shift in how people interact with Milton’s clubs, for better or for worse.