A common expression about university is that you get as much out of it as you put into it.

According to Meera Chander, vice-president finance of Carleton University Students’ Association (CUSA), joining a club or society is a good way to get the most out of the experience.

“When you come to university, [it] isn’t just about what you learn in the classroom,” she said.  

“[Clubs and societies are] a great way to learn something new, to meet new people, and to learn new things that you maybe did not know about yourself.”

There are dozens of clubs and societies across campus, one of the largest being the Muslim Students Association (MSA), which, according to club president Mohamed Haggag, has close to 1,200 members.

The MSA organizes religious events such as Friday prayers, as well as social gatherings such as ski trips and summer barbeques.  

Haggag said he believes that the club is unique because it has the ability to appeal to a wide variety of people.

“What we associate on is basically religion, so it touches more than a single nationality, age group, or field of study,” he said.  “There are Muslims who are in political science, Muslims who are Canadian-born or come from Europe or Asia, there are Muslims who are in engineering and business and so on,” he said. “[The MSA] touches all sorts of backgrounds.”

Waleed Malik, president of Carleton University Debate and Speech (CUDS), said that his society’s membership appeals to everyone from engineers to hardcore political science majors.

CUDS holds both intramural and intermural debates on numerous issues, ranging from cloning, the war in Afghanistan and government bailouts.
Malik added that it helps students develop skills that are helpful in numerous situations.

“We’ve all had moments where we’ve had arguments with people where we’d like to be able to argue better or be able to be better at having discussions with other people,” he said.  

“If you are coming to university, I think it’s a very important skill to have, to be able to evaluate ideas and concepts, and to be able to have discussions about issues which are controversial or have more than one side to them.”  

If one of Carleton’s many clubs doesn’t pique your interest, there’s also the option of starting a new club or society.

Chander explained that the process involves filling out a form from the clubs and societies office, getting 10 students to sign it and then learning how to write a budget and constitution to obtain funding from the financial assistance committee for clubs and Societies (FACCS).  

As long as there’s “a want and a need” for a club or society, she said, it can be done.

“Whether it’s a cultural group or if it’s something like the chess club and it’s bringing these students together, then that’s obviously a great thing, because we want to build on the Carleton community that we have right now, and we want to make sure that people are getting along on campus,” said Chander.