With over 500 student clubs and organizations, it is nearly impossible not to find a community on campus that you can be a part of. Student groups run the gamut of fields and interests, from 3-D Printing Club to Chi Alpha Christian Club to the Not-So-Royal Shakespeare Company.
Every year, the Student Activities Office holds an Activities Night at Notre Dame Stadium to showcase Notre Dame’s plethora of clubs and organizations. The 2021 showcase took place last Monday night, when students gathered at the stadium, walking around to tables staffed by club and organization representatives to learn about all the opportunities available.
Many students learn at Activities Night that joining students groups is one of the best ways to meet new friends with similar interests or try something out you’ve never done before.
“I started with Women’s Boxing my freshman year with my roommate and that is how we got really tight,” says Erin Fennessy ’22, co-captain of Women's Boxing. “The captains I have led the club with have become some of my best friends...It is a great community and you know you are a part of something bigger [than yourself].”
Notre Dame is unique in that many clubs have a service component or are completely service-oriented, reflecting the University's mission to be a “force for good” and offering students plenty of opportunities to be a part of that mission.
Monica Leon ’24 is, a member of the Community Alliance Serving Hispanics, a group that teaches English to Hispanic members of the South Bend community.
She sees Activities Night as, “an opportunity to get new students involved in the community and have them make a difference for a group of people that don't really get a lot of attention or are overlooked.”
Even with the many clubs and organizations already available, some students prefer to start their own. Friends Kevin Camson ’22 and Hannah Rafael ’22 founded the Mancala Club, which gets together to play the oldest board game in the world.
“We are going to start to build new communities, to bring people together over a fun game,” says co-president Camson.
Notre Dame makes it easy to start new clubs as well as to join established ones. Whether you are looking to get a sweat on through Running Club, express some creativity through Arts Under the Dome, or make a difference through the Boys and Girls Club, you have more than 500 options to explore your interests and build community at Notre Dame.
Learn More
Visit the Student Activities website to learn more about Notre Dame's student groups.