A Club of One's Own

Official College recognition can mean everything to fledgling student groups.

Several organizations have long histories and established traditions which blur the significance of such approval. But to a slew of others. College recognition obtained by petitioning the student faculty College Life committee--can give their endeavors instant credibility, allowing them to poster, use College facilities and seek funding from the Undergraduate Council. It puts the Chess Club on a level with the Rugby Club, and allows brand new literary magazines to publish and distribute door to door, just like the Harvard Advocate, which has produced hundreds of issues and some literary grants since its founding.

New and old groups published, talked politics, made music and danced this year. But a handful gave new meaning to the term "officially recognized undergraduate organizations." Following are some examples.

Students wishing to recreate the better parts of the Middle Ages," for example, did so in the Society for Creative Anachronism (SCA). A chapter of a national group bearing the same name, the Harvard branch attempted to reproduce the authentic food, clothing, activities, and social conventions of the Medieval period.

The approximately 20 Harvard SCA dians attended any number of weekly meetings where the participants practiced a variety of "special interests," including jousting, dancing, cooking, embroidering or calligraphy. The most involved members of the group seriously and thoroughly researched their craft or subject with a great competition among the members to be most genuinely medieval.

The essential medieval dress code has been listed on a sheet of "Dos" and "Don'ts" which is given to all members Obvious "Don'ts" include modern materials such as polyester--a cardinally sinful item and zippers. "You have to have an idea of who you're trying to be If you want to be a peasant, don't buy velvet. You have to be authentic. People will point it out if you're not," says Dana Gass '85, who revitalized Harvard's SCA chapter last year.

While the smaller weekly meetings were said to be enjoyable challenges, active SCA dians confess they were mere stepping stones compared to the one grant-like monthly SCA event. Lasting up to 12 hours, these bashes may include a jousting match, a revel or feast, or the rare Coronation of a King and Queen.

Similar to the SCA in its attempt to tune out Harvard in a decidedly historical way was the Society for Interactive Literature Michael J. Massimilla '83 describes the club as a more sophisticated form of Dungeons and Dragons, a popular fantasy-adventure game with a cult following.

The 12 regular members gathered once a week for five hours to immerse themselves in a fantasy, science-fiction story with manufactured characters and setting. The club recently finished weaving one complicated tale which had consumed four Earth years.

The emphasis on interactive role playing and the desire to "create stories of literary merit" provided a challenge to the membership and continued to attract even graduate members in the Cambridge area, members note.

Another small campus organization also had a somewhat other worlds aim in its activities. Yet the Sri Chinmoy Meditation Group took a more serious view. The group sponsored four week sessions, usually held at Phillips Brooks House, to teach meditation based on the philosophy of poet Sri Chinmoy.

"It's all free. No catches," says Adam Fishman '84, who headed this year's group. Fishman explains the reason that the group aligned itself to the living poet: "As a general philosopher. Sri Chimnoy is trying to bring out and demonstrate the infinite potential that we all have."

Different from other forms of meditation such as Transcendental Meditation which focuses on a word. Sri Chinmoy meditation is "heart-centered," Fishman says. He explains that the method of meditation involves a "process" by which one learns to concentrate, usually by fixating on a candle flame. Eventually meditation comes in and then "imagery."

In addition to sponsoring classes, the core group holds a number of poetry readings and seminars, sometimes with Chinmoy himself, who has come to Harvard the last eight years. This year the meditation group sponsored a 24-hour poetry reading in which 3500 of Chinmoy's poems were read aloud. Because the philosopher is also an avid athlete, the group sponsored a 347-mile continuous relay around campus earlier in the year to commemorate Harvard's 347th anniversary.

Some clubs, however, did not find the need to escape from their familiar environment. Many of them simply played games. The Bridge Club, for example, met for three hours a week in the Science Center cafe for non-competitive tournaments.

The 12 basically intermediate players with official Collegiate status played "just for fun," according to club president Benji N. Fisher '85. A few members tried to accumulate masters points but discovered they could only do so by playing in registered games through the Bridge Club of Boston.

The club also selected the University's Bridge team, which played against other schools such as Tufts, Brandeis and MIT. The usual four-member team expanded to eight this year due to a surge of interest in the game among campus players, said Fisher.

Another game-playing club initially boasting 40 members, or about half the size of the Harvard student government, was the Go Club. Not to be confused with a high-schoolesque cheerleading squad, the members actually indulged in a less strenuous activity: Go, a game similar in complexity to chess, originated in China over 4000 years ago.

Since Go is popular mostly in mainland China, Japan and Korea, most of the club's members were foreign students. They met informally four hours every week, but some games lasted for days, says former president Jinku Lee '83.

"It's very hard to get people interested in a game hey've never played extensively before," says Lee, noting the talents the club's membership possess. "The rules are very simple, but it takes considerable time to master," he adds.

While most clubs incurred just minimal-expenses during the year for game boards, cards and sets, the money-minded Entrepreneurs Club dealt with higher stakes. The 45-member group recently sponsored a conference featuring 100 students and professional money makers where admission was a mere $25.

The club members refused a $98 funding allocation from the Undergraduate Council because they claimed it was insufficient to defray costs, which they estimated at $3000. "Aspiring entrepreneurs should be capable of fundraising, "explains Scott Mize '85.