By Mathew Shaw/se news editor
SE Campus has 45 clubs, which all need regular meeting times and places.
This can be difficult when many of them schedule their meetings at the same time on the same day.
Friday is the most popular day to schedule a club meeting, and 1 p.m. is the most popular time for a meeting.
Fridays are the days with the least number of conflicts in students’ schedules, according to SE student developmental associate Amy Staley. On Fridays, SE holds no afternoon classes. She also said the campus’ amount of space is a factor.
“Because space on our campus is limited, it is difficult for clubs to get rooms during peak class times,” she said.
To put into perspective how challenging it can be for students interested in multiple clubs, at least nine clubs on SE Campus have meetings at 1 p.m. on Fridays.
SE student Sakiratu Orekoya, who belongs to Historical Underground, the Music Club and the African Culture Club, knows the difficulty of conflicting meeting times, but she feels obligated to the African Culture Club as the organization’s president.
In fact, Orekoya said most African Culture Club members have meeting conflicts as well. However, they remain committed to the group, she said.
“In my experience of being president of the organization, I think the way we conduct our meetings and the activities we do is what’s making them come back and be committed members,” she said.
SE English instructor Geoffrey Saari knows this issue as well. When asked if students in the Photography Club, one of the organizations he sponsors, have ever been inconvenienced by the club’s meeting times and days, and if they have other club meetings at the same time, he replied simply, “Yes and yes.”
The Photography Club meets at noon Fridays. The Poetry Club, the other club he sponsors, meets at 1 p.m. Fridays.
To alleviate the problem of inconvenient meeting times, some clubs meet or are considering meeting multiple times a week.
The Anime Club, for example, meets twice a week: Thursday and Friday. The Gay-Straight Alliance is also considering adopting a two-meetings-a-week model for students who cannot make their Friday meetings.
