A look into Penn’s new club registration process

After the University made significant updates to the student group registration process, several members of the Penn community spoke to The Daily Pennsylvanian about frustrations over the new policies.

If successfully registered, groups receive access to resources such as event space reservations, activities fairs, approved use of the Penn name, mailing lists, marketing support, and funding opportunities through University-based entities. The changes — implemented by Penn’s Office of Student Affairs — took effect at the start of the 2025-26 academic year.

Before this academic year, student groups could submit registration requests at any point, and new clubs were considered for approval on a rolling basis. Now, student groups seeking official registration must apply by the end of October. 

OSA Executive Director Katie Bonner explained that the change is meant to streamline the integration process for new organizations.

“We found one of the challenges of having rolling admissions is that we are always in the process of onboarding new groups and trying to make them aware of resources, and it wasn’t a particularly efficient use of anybody’s time,” Bonner said. 

Prospective club leaders are required to submit multiple documents in their applications — including a mission statement, proposed leadership structure, membership roster, and constitution. Groups must also explain how their organization addresses a unique need not met by a currently registered group. 

Bonner said “in theory” OSA is “supposed to … use the month of November to review those applications” before releasing decisions the week of Dec. 1. This year, however, the review period “ended up being almost two months.”

Bonner explained the process took longer than expected because the OSA received “well over 100 applications” — far exceeding their initial estimate of 30.

“This time around, for the first time doing it, we’ve learned a lot,” Bonner said.

According to an email obtained by the DP, groups approved this academic year were notified of next steps on Jan. 12. Accepted groups were expected to attend “SOS Jr.” — a “lighter version” of the Student Organization Summit hosted each August. 

Bonner explained that when reviewing applications, OSA consulted “relevant partners” to gather a “sense of uniqueness” of the prospective organization and garner insight into what the group needs “to be supported successfully.”

The most common reason applications are denied, according to Bonner, is because they are not meaningfully different from existing organizations. 

“Their mission is just not as unique as they would like it to be,” she said. “There is oftentimes another group that is doing something pretty similar.”

She also clarified that some prospective organizations are not “appropriate” as student organizations because they closely resemble initiatives that do not require formal recognition, such as “startups.”

According to Bonner, OSA is “trying to avoid having repeat and similar organizations” by reaching out to clubs with similar interests and asking them to join together while reviewing applications.

Students and club leaders who underwent the new club approval process this past academic year discussed their experiences with the DP. 

College first year Alexander Doraszelski — founder and president of the recently approved Bulgarian Society at Penn — described the process as “confusing and difficult.”

According to Doraszelski, the delayed decisions and lack of communication from the OSA were “daunting” and “the worst part.”

Doraszelski — who sent “five” follow-up emails and did not receive a response after calling the office about the status of his application — described the lack of communication as “frustrating.”

While Doraszelski described feeling that OSA’s decisions were “super arbitrary” and lacked a “consistent rubric or standard” — citing the group AI@Penn and the recently approved AI Society at Penn — he felt that his club had an “easier path,” because “there’s never been a Bulgarian Society.”

College and Wharton sophomore Eric Li — founder and president of venture studio club Altus Strategies — said his club was rejected after applying in October 2025.

According to Li, the OSA attributed his club’s regulation to the unfeasibility of its broad membership base, similarities to Wharton’s Cypher Accelerator, and concerns that the club’s clientele would violate student organization limits on services to external clients.

“There are so many other clubs that serve an external clientele, yet are able to be supported by Wharton Council, and then Cypher Accelerator is completely different from what we’re trying to do,” Li explained. “We were disappointed, and we really didn’t understand the logic behind the reasoning, and we thought Altus was a perfectly unique club that could have been an addition.”

Though Li said he felt the application process was “pretty clear,” he believed it would benefit from an appeal process.

Bonner said while she believes the OSA provided “consistent and legitimate reasons” for rejections, the OSA welcomes feedback from students.

“I think the main thing that Penn loses would be adding variety to the amount of extracurriculars and also helping students find and pursue their interests that are not already covered by the school,” Li said. “There’s no such thing as a completely original idea, and inevitably, some things will overlap, and I think it’s okay to have that overlap as long as it’s not … copy and paste.”

Doraszelski felt his frustrations were indicative of a broader problem at Penn.

“I don’t know whether this is a direct consequence of pressure from the Trump administration or lingering after-effects from the Gaza encampments, but just from every aspect of student life, I think there’s been a huge crackdown on the autonomy of students — whether as a student organization, a club, a fraternity, a department,” he said. “I think there’s been this broad crackdown by the University to regain more control, and it manifests in these often conflicting, stupid rules and processes.”

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