As we saw at the campus-wide Club Fair on October 14, Bellarmine’s growing club network is at a fever pitch. Fledgling student organizations made their official debut through interactive booth displays. Between affinity groups and academic competitions, students are deepening their passions in a new way—not by joining clubs, but starting their own. And that we have. The club roster is up to over fifty, but this number might soon hold little meaning.
As seen in past years, sustaining a club is next to impossible. With the limited schedules of students and separate visions for a club’s future, defining goals for engagement becomes difficult. To ensure co-curricular involvement serves to deepen passions and not pad resumés, club founders need intentionality. But, there’s no reason to pull this intentionality out of thin air.
Bellarmine is home to a myriad of long-established student organizations, and five such successful ones act as a blueprint for developing clubs. Each club is successful for their own reason, and applying them holistically to your club’s mission can provide a strong foundation for longevity. Understanding these case studies may help club founders create opportunities for future students to not only deepen passions, but also impact on campus.
Sustainability Representatives
Takeaway: Become a community pillar
Your club will need the school to survive, but how will the school need your club? The Sust. Reps answer this question, as they are fully integrated into the community. After all, their mission is inarguable: sustainability is everyone’s responsibility. Through their independent newsletter and leadership in the previous two Justice Summits, Sustainability has allowed every student to become a member, whether directly or indirectly.
Sustainability Reps have turned a student-shared cause into a community attitude, advancing their club while pushing Bellarmine in an environmentally conscious direction. They have improved visibility among students through their club’s unique practices, such as plant sales, group hikes, greenhouse work, post-football game cleanup, and creative announcements about the recycling policy. With both a mission that concerns everyone and actions that involve everyone, Sustainability has become inseparable from Bellarmine.
Model United Nations
Takeaway: Make your impact loud and clear
Clubs often remain unsustained due to their lack of real-world applications. The Model UN program is an exception. The largest on campus, and most frequent representative of Bellarmine, BellarMUN has cultivated real-world leadership. Every year, they attend numerous prestigious conferences with members held to a high, award-winning standard. Ensuring the skills learned from joining are tangible and easily transferable, BellarMUN engages the community with speaker events to raise awareness about pressing political issues, from the international to local level.
Because the incentive for moving up in MUN is clear—whether through staffing for conferences, running global affairs seminars, or applying for leadership positions—members feel compelled to contribute, as the cause is evidently much bigger than themselves. BellarMUN serves as a gateway for students to create impact, extending beyond just fostering a shared interest in global issues.
Drama Department
Takeaway: Put your name everywhere
In all the noise of new clubs trying to promote themselves, it’s easy to be scrolled past on Instagram. Because of this, it’s necessary to rely on physical promotion, as the Drama Department does. With two productions a year, one play and one musical, Drama never fails to engage the community in the weeks leading up to both. Their announcements for auditions and productions take advantage of high-traffic areas on campus, effectively informing potential actors or audience members.
In addition to Campus Center graphics, posted flyers, and bulletins, Drama hosts poster design contests long before opening nights to involve students creatively. Early involvement ensures students seeing the posters are not only informed, but develop a sense of ownership and excitement for the upcoming production. By consistently promoting across multiple channels, Drama ensures no one is out of the loop.
FIRST Robotics Team 360: The Revolution
Takeaway: Provide opportunities for everyone
While not everyone in a club needs a leadership role, there do need to be specific ways to contribute. Team 360 is the oldest sustaining program at Bellarmine for many reasons, but one stands out: everyone has a role. Calling this group “robotics” leaves additional opportunities out of the picture—in addition to skills in engineering, design, and computer science, Team 360 allows students to learn marketing, fundraising, and data analytics. Covering a breadth of disciplines, they accommodate all levels of interest and commitment.
Similar to BellarMUN, leadership opportunities on Team 360 increase member investment. Beyond a plethora of technical skills, they invite all members to participate in local STEM outreach and event volunteering, allowing them to contribute meaningfully to community efforts. This practice has heavily contributed to Team 360’s long-standing reputation.
Black Student Union, Asian Pacific Islander Culture & Arts, and Feminists at Bellarmine
Takeaway: Create a space
In order for clubs to last, members need a reason to stay. Groups like BSU, APICA, and FAB began several years ago and all align with a similar goal of fostering belonging. By unifying members through a shared identity rather than a shared interest, these student organizations have rooted themselves in the community.
While these clubs offer different ways to get involved, such as prayer services, blanket-making drives, or bake sales, their mission remains simple: celebrate a movement and celebrate each other. The primary way to achieve this, as done by every affinity club, is to hold meetings where students can safely share their experiences or stories. Through shared events at Multicultural Week or independent outreach, these groups create an environment where students can engage with their own community and causes in meaningful ways, forming connections that keep the club alive.
