Research Topics: Student Organizations and Activities

Student organizations have been a crucial part of campus life and culture at Concordia College since the opening of the college in 1891. The form and number of student organizations has changed drastically since that time, but the influence on students has remained the same. They are  a place for students to find a voice, and a place for them to explore new interests. There are a number of collections in the Concordia College Archives which contain information about student organizations. The first, and largest, collection is Record Group 18: Student Government, Student Organizations & Activities, 1896-2018. This collection is arranged into 10 groups.

• The first group, Student Government, 1927, 1947-2011, documents the activities of the various student run governing bodies at Concordia College primarily from 1947 to the present. Included are the meeting minutes of various student bodies, financial records and subject files on a wide variety of student related activities and organizations.
• The second group, Organizations & Clubs, brings together the records for a diverse group of student organizations with many purposes that have operated at Concordia College spanning from the 1930s to the present.
• The third group, Early Societies, brings together the meeting minutes of various early debating. drama and literary societies at Concordia, spanning from 1896 to 1936.
• The fourth group, Literary Societies, bring together the records of the various literary societies organized at Concordia College, spanning from the late 1910s to 1950s. They include minutes, programs and several histories of specific societies.
• The fifth group, Social Societies, consists of the records of two joint social societies at Concordia, Chi Delta Phi and Chi Zeta Lambda.
• The sixth group, Honor Societies, brings together the records for eight individual student organized honor societies at Concordia College, spanning from the 1930s to 2000s. Records focus on Alpha Phi Omega; Alpha Phi Gamma; Omicron Delta Kappa; Zeta Sigma Pi; Phi Upsilon Omicron; Sigma Delta Psi; Pi Gamma Mu; and Phi Beta Kappa.
• The seventh group, The Inter-Society Commission, consists of records related to the commission as well as other early inter-society events at Concordia.
• The eighth group, Miscellaneous Societies, consists of the records of the Class of 1927; a report about the proposed Sigma Tau Sigma; and an International Student Organization event program.
• The ninth group, Student Sponsored Events, brings together the records of various campus events sponsored and supported by students. These include records on Political Emphasis Week; Junior/Senior Banquet; and Frosh Frolics.
• The tenth group, Student Activities Office, documents the many trips and events sponsored by the office to include separate files on each event; general information on the office and its work; student organizations; and various policies related to student life.​

Other records regarding student organizations and activities can be found in Record Group 16: Student Publications. Included in this collection are publications such as:

• The Crescent and the Concordian Student Newspaper
• Afterwork
• New Voices
• Djembe Intercultural Magazine
• The Scout/Cobber Yearbook

Other materials can be found Record Group 31: Media, and in topical files which contain general information and clippings on topics surrounding student organizations.
Resources:
Record Group 18 Finding Aid
Record Group 16 Finding Aid
The Concordian Student Newspaper
​On Firm Foundations Grounded