New rules force Marshall clubs to open up their membership

A new policy implemented this year requires all USC clubs to be open to all interested students. To comply with the new rules, many select clubs, particularly Marshall School of Business clubs, had to adapt their structures.

Several clubs have created “general membership programs” as a kind of stepping stone, providing students with the skills and knowledge necessary for the clubs’ selective programs. Some clubs, like the USC Consulting Consortium, have worked together to create curriculum and plan events.

Trisha Prasanna, a freshman business administration major, said general membership programs can give students the necessary skills and give them a head start when applying to the clubs’ select programs. However, she said there aren’t many opportunities to apply knowledge or interact with other students, and she warned that it’s still difficult to get into clubs.

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“There is still a long way to go because there is definitely a significant gap between the number of applicants and the number of applicants,” she said. “The general membership hasn’t necessarily opened the doors that it should. I think it opened the door, but you can’t actually step through the door.”

Prasanna is a member of the general program of Trojan Investing Society – a finance club – as well as the selective program of Troy Labs – a startup accelerator club.

Lev Reyter, a freshman business administration major, said he understands that general membership programs can help members gain knowledge about an area they may not have been exposed to, but he said the programs are too broad could.

“It’s just a little crazy because there are so many people there,” Reyter said. “If I get there five minutes early [to a meeting]I won’t get a place.”

In a statement on Daily Trojan On Oct. 5, USC Campus Activities wrote that all applications from student organizations were reviewed to determine whether they met the criteria for a recognized student organization.

“USC has hundreds of student organizations that are responsible for most programs and events on campus, including concerts, lectures, special events, spirit rallies, cultural and social events and conferences,” USC Campus Activities wrote. “University recognition is required [an] annually to maintain status as a University-recognized student organization.”

In a follow-up statement on October 9, they wrote that RSOs must allow all students to join.

“The University provided all RSOs with a bylaw template to follow to ensure all operational requirements were met by each organization,” they wrote. “Groups have been contacted to make appropriate edits and changes as needed.”

USC Campus Activities added that they would reevaluate the requirements if necessary.

“Campus Activities and its academic partners are constantly having conversations about RSO requirements and the organizations that cannot meet these requirements. These conversations will address what changes may occur in the future and how to ensure all organizations are compliant,” they wrote.

Some clubs have taken different approaches to the new club accessibility rules, such as the Value Investing Group, which Reyter said conducted a highly competitive selection process based on the experiences of some of his friends who applied.

A VIG representative confirmed that the club does not have a formal general membership program, but said that the club has received approval from the Marshall administration to meet the requirement by hosting two events throughout the year that are open to all USC open to students. The club has been hosting these events for the past few years, even before the new membership guidelines came into effect.

“Marshall expressed it to us that there is no strict rubric or guideline,” said the VIG representative. “It’s all about figuring out how we can best serve students, because that’s the reason all of this exists in the first place.”

When asked whether VIG received permission to comply with the requirement by holding public events, USC Campus Activities neither confirmed nor denied this.

The club representative added that it functions like a “book club” in the first semester and tries to keep its number of participants small to facilitate student discussion. They also said that the club has a mailing list, not limited to members of the selected core group, through which they send out information about the pitches and discussions that take place in meetings.

“The reason we don’t have a formal open membership program for the Marshall community is because of this [we] I want to keep it open to the USC community at large,” the VIG representative said. “We see no reason to rule it out, just be Marshall specific. And that’s why we consider these events to be our ‘open membership,’ so to speak.”

According to Prasanna, Marshall Club applications typically involve multiple essays and multiple rounds of interviews. She said she also participated in a social mixer for her application to the Troy Labs selection program.

On the other hand, Vedant Agrawal, a freshman majoring in business administration, said his application for the Trojan Investing Society’s general membership program only required a few essays.

Prasanna said she was unable to apply for the Trojan Investing Society’s Select Leaders Program, which is open only to sophomores and sophomores.

Prasanna said regardless of whether participating in a club’s general membership program would increase a student’s chances of participating in the more selective program in the future, it can provide access to other club members, which can be helpful when the time comes for an interview is .

The VIG representative said that due to the nature of the club they could not open their program to all students, but that they would try to make it as accessible as possible.

“It’s not perfect; There are definitely things we could do a little better, and of course the way we brand ourselves and communicate with students – is still a work in progress, but I would say we are really doing our best in that regard “We want to make more of these events accessible to USC and Marshall,” the VIG representative said.

Agrawal said he is “pleased” with the current general membership requirement because it provides opportunities for new students who may not have extensive prior knowledge. At the same time, he said that this increases the work of club leaders and that it could be useful to allow some selectivity.

“I would say [the current general membership policy] is perfect, but you can be a little more selective, like reading the application and not trying to select everyone except the one who actually shows genuine interest in finance,” Agrawal said.

Reyter does not believe that clubs should be required to have a general membership program at all.

“There has to be another way, and besides, we’re in college now,” he said. “I don’t think anyone should be guaranteed entry to a club [simply] because USC says everyone comes to the club.”