Club Leadership Training in Heely Room

          Director of Student Life Ian August held two mandatory club leadership training sessions in the Heely Room of Woods Memorial Hall last Friday, September 8. These sessions were piloted this year to inform students on the School’s expectations for club leaders, including managing  club funds, holding club meetings at least thrice a term, and accessing school social media platforms. Club leaders were also instructed on the importance of keeping their faculty advisors updated with club information as well as pitching their clubs at club night, which took place this past Thursday, September 14. Although the second training session was conducted virtually due to weather concerns, it remained an informative experience for club leaders. 

          For Christian Chan’s ’26, the training session gave him more insight into what being a club leader means. “It’s a huge responsibility,” he said. Chan thought that the meeting was very “informative” and taught him the importance of “being active” in maintaining a successful club at Lawrenceville. 

          Jenny Zhao ’25 echoed Chan’s sentiments;  however, she also noted some ways to improve the training sessions. “The guidelines were loose,” she said, as she had hoped for “specific examples” during the session. For instance, while discussing the distribution of club funds, Zhao would have liked for August to provide ideas on “maximizing the effectiveness” of club spendings, a question she had not answered yet. Similarly, Joey Vermut ’25, president of the True Crime Club, shared that the session’s information was “not anything really new to her”, as she was a returning student. Still, the session was helpful as she learned that “there were people [she] could go to for support,” such as in starting a social media platform for the club to get more publicity. Vermut would prefer if the session were “held over Zoom next time,” as she feels it is “something that could be done remotely for convenience”. 

          As new and returning clubs make their way back on campus, club life at Lawrenceville is in full bloom. The introduction of club training sessions gave students the opportunity to learn more about how their clubs can be more impactful, involved, and active on campus.