At the University of Portland, the work of leaders from smaller, student-led clubs and organizations — like the Womxn of Color (WOC) Club — often goes unrecognized. The campus community’s attention tends to gravitate toward larger, more well-known clubs such as the Vietnamese Student Association (VSA), Filipino American Student Association (FASA), Latinx Student Union (LSU) and Hawaii Club.
These larger organizations often have higher membership numbers and host large-scale events that draw significant turnout, which in turn attracts recognition at student leadership award ceremonies. But this raises an important question: Are event size and turnout the only metrics by which we measure leadership, hard work and impact?
In the spring semester of my sophomore year, I served as an executive board intern for VSA, which had 8 interns and 12 executive board members. During that same year, I also served as Vice President of WOC, which had a much smaller officer board of only four people: two co-presidents, myself as VP, and a treasurer.
I want to be clear — I deeply admire and respect the work that goes into running large organizations. As a VSA intern, I witnessed firsthand the commitment it takes to manage events, collaborate with other groups and support a large community. That said, these larger clubs often have the benefit of big executive boards and additional support from interns, making the workload more distributed.
Smaller clubs like WOC do not have that luxury. With only four or five officers, the workload is immense, and each person is typically involved in multiple other commitments on and off campus. For instance, during my time on WOC’s board, our officers simultaneously served as RAs, Anchor Seminar leaders, members of other executive boards, student-athletes, employees of the Moreau Center for Service and Justice and more. On top of that, we all juggled academic responsibilities and personal lives — just like any other college student.
In my junior year, I made the decision to serve as WOC’s president. While I also considered joining VSA’s executive board, I ultimately chose WOC. The impact this organization had on me was too meaningful to ignore, and I knew WOC needed my leadership more than VSA, which already had a large pool of potential officers.
Leading a small club with limited resources and people power comes with challenges. I've seen my fellow WOC officers face burnout, overcommitment and difficulty finding time to plan and execute events. Still, despite hosting fewer events than we may have wanted, the ones we did hold were deeply meaningful. Events with small turnouts can still create lasting impact.
As I finish my second year as WOC’s president, I feel immense gratitude for the experiences this role has given me. WOC has allowed me to connect with students from diverse backgrounds, build community and create spaces where WOC students can feel seen, safe and supported. Together, we've highlighted the voices of influential women of color both on campus and beyond and cultivated opportunities for students to empower themselves and each other.
Looking ahead, my hope for WOC is not necessarily to grow larger or host massive events. I believe there is value in staying intimate, especially for our general meetings and roundtable discussions. These smaller gatherings are what make WOC feel like a true community, where people can show up as their full selves and be heard.
That said, I do hope that WOC and other smaller clubs receive more recognition and support from the UP community. Here are two recommendations I’d like to leave:
The Beacon and ASUP should make a concerted effort to highlight the work of smaller clubs — not just those that attract the biggest crowds.
UP should reevaluate how it defines “success” in student leadership. The community should consider how it can better recognize the incredible, behind-the-scenes work that often goes unnoticed.
To all the student leaders — especially those in smaller clubs — who work tirelessly with little recognition: You are amazing. Your impact matters. Keep going.
Sydney Chou is a senior at the University of Portland. She can be reached at chous24@up.edu.
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