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145 Student Groups to Choose From
From Music to Chess to Heated Debate, Activities for Everyone
At Dartmouth Shonda Rhimes '91 wrote and directed plays as a member of the Black Underground Theater Association (BUTA). She now plies her craft in Hollywood as the creator and executive producer of ABC's Grey's Anatomy and Private Practice. As an undergraduate, Mindy Kaling '01 honed her comedic skills in the improv comedy group Dog Day Players. She's now a co-star and writer/producer for NBC's The Office. And current members of the a cappella group the Dartmouth Aires had a recent brush with fame when they recorded two songs with Weezer frontman, Rivers Cuomo, and were mentioned in a radio interview he did with NPR's Fresh Air in January.
While there's no guarantee your student will find fame and fortune after participating in one of the 145 student organizations sponsored by Dartmouth's Council on Student Organizations (COSO), they will make lifetime friends and memories and develop leadership skills. "Students learn to organize, put together proposals for funding, and manage their time," says Elizabeth Agosto, the associate director of the Collis Center and COSO advisor. "And a lot of students find their home in these organizations. They connect with people who have similar ideas and interests, but are also challenged to look beyond what they've considered their normal way of looking at the world."
COSO groups are divided into eight categories: academic (such as Mock Trial Society), culture specific (Dartmouth Asian Organization), honor societies (Green Key Society), issue oriented (UNICEF-Dartmouth), performing/concert (Dartmouth Rockapellas), pre-professional (Dartmouth Latino Business Society), publication/media (Aegis yearbook), and recreational (Chess Club). COSO oversees the groups and distributes funding, but each organization is student-run with input from a faculty advisor. About 3,200 students are involved in COSO groups, with 700 students in leadership capacities. "It's clear," Agosto says, "that these groups affect a broad sweep of the campus."
Lauren Hawley '11, a member of Fusion Dance Ensemble since the fall of her first year, says, "I've loved being part of a group run entirely by students. We are entirely responsible for Fusion and we are all very much committed to the group. It's so much fun seeing the final performances come together at the end of each term. A few days before a show, things look like they'll never come together, so it's amazing to watch everyone buckle down and make it happen."
If your student hasn't yet discovered COSO, now's a good time to give him or her some encouragement. You just might become the parent of the next Shonda Rhimes or Mindy Kaling!