Clubs include Wellesley Game and Fish, Robogals, Bitcoin, WIPI and CS Club
This year’s annual organization fair on Sept. 10 took place on the Chapel Lawn and featured over 150 organizations. They included cultural organizations such as the Korean Society Association and organizations dedicated to specific interests such as political awareness, including Advocates for North Korean Human Rights and Peace Coalition. Dance organizations, including FreeStyle and Dance Collective, as well as intramural sports such as Sailing Club and Quidditch were also present.
Apart from previously existing organizations, new organizations made a presence at the fair. These included Robogals, the Computer Science (CS) Club, the Wellesley Bitcoin Club, Wellesley Game and Fish and the Wellesley Investment Profile Initiative (WIPI).
Robogals, according to founder Tali Marcus ’15, aims to “increase female participation in engineering, science and technology through fun and educational initiatives aimed at girls in elementary and middle school.”
Robogals is focused on hosting introductory programming, robotics and engineering workshops in the community in an attempt to introduce young girls to unfamiliar fields, though young boys are definitely not forbidden to join in.
Another technology club, CS Club, founded by Joanna Bi ’15 and Sheridan Sunier ’15, has a threefold purpose. It includes providing a forum for events within the computer science community as well as enrichment opportunities through tech-related events. Multiple events will be held throughout the fall semester, including hackathons, coding workshops, networking and social events. Tentative future plans include reaching out to other schools in the Boston area for intercollegiate activities such as conferences and networking.
The Wellesley Bitcoin Club, founded by Jinglan Wang ’16, Shannon Lu ’16 and Tara Gupta ’16, aims to broaden female presence in Bitcoin by creating an environment to understand and facilitate its innovation. The Bitcoin Club hopes to open more opportunities for women in the intersection of STEM fields and finance.
Future plans include Bitcoin trading, creating bitcoin-related software and microfinance initiatives in impoverished areas to empower women. The club also plans to collaborate with the MIT Bitcoin Club in hacking activities and with Phi Delta Phi in holding discussions about Bitcoin legislation.
Wellesley Game and Fish, formed by Anne Meyers ’17, aims not only to encourage Wellesley students to become aware of the on-campus wildlife, but also to relieve the stereotypical image of “gross” animals such as spiders and garter snakes. The wildlife organization hopes to host events such as fishing, bird watching and frog catching, as well as to extend an opportunity to obtain fishing licenses.
The WIPI, sponsored by Fidelity Investments and the Center for Work and Service (CWS), presents students with hands-on investing experience. Founders Eka Zhao ’16 and Gabrielle Chapman ’17 strive to confront the disadvantages Wellesley students encounter during the interview process for financial jobs. They realize that Wellesley students often lack hard skills and market knowledge. Activities include student participation in Fidelity-led investing workshops, learning how to manage student-run paper portfolios and participating in formal mentoring programs.
The number of new organizations is small compared to the amount of constituted orgs at Wellesley, but each adds more to Wellesley’s diversity, whether in cultural, academic, professional, recreational or artistic ways.
