Admission pamphlets advertise inactive clubs

By James Prioleau 

Special to The Johnsonian

Some of the 180 student clubs and organizations advertised on Winthrop’s website and emailed to the entire student body are inactive.  

Not all of these clubs are omitted from the promotional brochures Winthrop gives to many incoming freshmen and transfer students.  

Alicia Marstall, director of the DiGiorgio Campus Center, said that even though the brochures advertise inactive clubs, Winthrop’s website updates the clubs and organizations for the semester. 

“It depends on who’s printing the brochure because it’s printed usually once a year. That’s why we update clubs on our website so students can go on and see what the updated list is,” Marstall said. 

Stanley Jackson, assistant director for Student Organization & Leadership at Winthrop, said that an organization’s activity depends on the club. 

“It depends on the group if they are maintaining their relationship with us,” Jackson said. 

For clubs and organizations to remain active, a leader must attend annual club trainings, space use training and submit an online registration form.  

Other clubs are inactive temporarily and become reactive, particularly if there is an issue or a certain topic that needs to be addressed. Even if clubs or organizations are inactive, it doesn’t mean that they’re extinct. Marstall said that some clubs become reactivated when there is a certain event that is taking place. 

“Like this year is a big election year, clubs like College Democrats and College Republicans become very active,” Marstall said. “It’s like they’re issue-driven. After elections, they are not as active; we may not even here from them as an office until the fall.” 

Marstall said that keeping track of the inactive clubs will help reactivate and keep the students’ options open. 

“We don’t want to limit the options that students can join,” Marstall said. “We try to keep track of the clubs that are inactive so students will know that they [clubs] are options, and there will be some work to get that group restarted versus the ones that are active.”

There are a few steps students can take to reactivate a club. Updating the roster, completing a registration form, choosing an advisor and allowing no less than 10 students to join the club will help restart it. If the club has been inactive for more than a year, it wiill have to be chartered again. 

Ashley Garrick, a member of Winthrop’s Visions of Prayze Gospel Choir and vice president of the Social Work Club, said these organizations can be a letdown to her and other students who want to join these clubs.

“Well, some clubs could get my hopes up, and when I find out they are not active, I would be disappointed,” Garrick said.

With a variety of clubs at Winthrop, many students think these inactive clubs such as the Grilling Club, should still be advertise so they can be reactivated. 

Aisha Perry, a member of the NAACP, said she believes that the inactive clubs should be advertised for those who want to revive those clubs.

“I feel that they should still be advertised so there can be a possible chance they can become active again,” Perry said.