Have you ever walked into a club meeting and immediately felt unwelcome? Maybe it was because your fellow club members were already so engaged in conversation with one another that they didn’t pause for a brief moment to greet you. Maybe you tried to say a friendly hello, only to continue being ignored. If something like this has ever happened to you, you are certainly not alone, nor are you at fault. Experiences like this are most likely due to something much bigger — the toxic “clique culture” that has come to dominate countless organizations at Tufts.
Part of what I suspect enables this “clique culture” to run rampant at Tufts is that it is generally very inconspicuous. Cliques on our campus don’t tend to fit the “Mean Girls” trope of being actively aggressive to outsiders (“You can’t sit with us!”) or flaunting their exclusivity to the point that they’re given a name like the “Plastics.” On the contrary, clique culture in real life is usually a lot more subtle. It can be something as simple as a small friend group bringing up their inside jokes or making plans to hang out outside of the club in front of everyone else. It can also be the friend group taking pictures together at a social function for the club, leaving those not “in” with them standing by watching uncomfortably.
While these behaviors are undoubtedly inconsiderate, they are a lot less perceptible than more blatant forms of bullying like name-calling or threat-making. Thus, clique culture is easily able to evade public perception, and when it is perceived, it is often thought to be unproblematic. This is made worse by the fact that people in these cliques are often unable or unwilling to grapple with the consequences of their actions. All of these factors contribute to a culture in clubs where cliques are normalized, as is the toxic behavior with which they are associated.
Discussing clique culture in a publication with the audience of the Tufts student body might seem taboo, but I see it as far too pressing an issue to avoid. In fact, it is because there is a sort of unspoken agreement among club members to remain silent about clique culture rather than question it that it has been able to thrive in so many different organizations.
To get a better sense of others’ experiences with clique culture, I conducted an online survey of undergraduates’ personal experiences with cliques in their clubs. Out of 35 respondents, more than 80% reported that they had heard from others about at least one club on campus being cliquey. Furthermore, when asked to reflect on their own personal experiences, around 50% of respondents reported that they perceived at least one of their current clubs as being cliquey. Evidently, even though my sample is by no means representative of the entire undergraduate population at Tufts, it does reveal an overall high level of awareness of clique culture in clubs among a sample of Tufts students, both in general and based on their own personal experiences.
In the survey, respondents were also asked to report the names of some of the clubs they were in if they desired. The list of cliquey organizations to which they belong is diverse, ranging from dance organizations to debate and discussion groups.
Viewing the results of the survey, it has become clear to me that there are likely cliques in many more clubs than just the ones with which I am personally involved. However, regardless of how daunting this clique culture may seem, there are tangible steps that can be taken to combat it. For starters, talking about this issue both inside and outside club meetings can help to reduce the stigma around cliquiness and, as a result, reduce cliquiness itself. It is particularly important for people in leadership positions to create a culture where club members can feel comfortable coming to them with any concerns they have about exclusivity.
A particular leadership position that can lend itself to this sort of discussion, especially in larger organizations on campus, is that of a personnel chair or human resources director. Some organizations on campus lack this sort of position, making it much harder for club members experiencing interpersonal issues to have their problems addressed. It is true that other executive board members could fill in the gaps in cases where members require assistance, but that is only possible if they make it a point to vocalize that they are willing to hear feedback. Still, in any case, none of these board members will have received the proper training that a personnel chair or HR director would.
As club culture at Tufts stands right now, there is an epidemic of “cliquiness” that is not poised to be addressed. However, I do believe that if club leadership boards undergo the reforms I have suggested, significant progress could be made. To all people in club leadership, I hope you take what I have said to heart. The well-being of your membership depends on it.
