Ian MacPhail shares his insights on student clubs, leadership opportunities, and the vibrant club culture at Chapel Hill-Chauncy Hall.

CH-CH: What are clubs at CH-CH?

Ian MacPhail: Clubs at CH-CH are student-run and often student-created organizations that meet regularly. They have different focus points, mostly based on student interest. Honestly, if you're a student who's interested in a specific thing—whether it's chess or board games or the environment or community service or basketball—you can create a student-driven club which brings people of like interest together once to twice a week for a specific time on Wednesdays and Fridays where they get to engage in activities around that interest.

CH-CH: What aspects of clubs stand out to you?

Ian MacPhail: I love Clubs Fair, the energy is great! When our students are passionate about things, it's fantastic to see them share that passion with other people.

CH-CH: How do clubs help students practice leadership?

Ian MacPhail: There's so many facets of leadership, but fundamentally it’s about organization and getting people to be interested. Clubs really help students practice those in a relatively low-stakes way. If I have a passion that I want to chase and I want to spend time on and I want to share with people, I get to articulate that passion at Clubs Fair. I get to plan and organize club events and club meetings. I get to convince people to join my club. I get to spread the interest and the passion through action. Those are huge facets of leadership in almost every version of leadership we've ever talked about in the world.

CH-CH: What would you say to a student that is considering joining a club?

Ian MacPhail: Try it out. One of the biggest things that people will often tell you about being a student at Chapel Hill-Chauncy Hall is that you are encouraged to try new things. So try a club, show up for a meeting, go to an event that they host on a weekend, see who's there and what they're doing. If it's something that you're interested in, share that interest with them. It's really a great chance to explore something new. 

CH-CH: Tell us about the legacy clubs at CH-CH.

Ian MacPhail: We have five legacy clubs at Chapel Hill. We have National Honor Society (NHS), which is an application-only club and part of a national organization. We have our Gender/Sexuality Association (GSA) club, which is one of our permanent clubs, centered around identity and belonging. We have our Students of Color Alliance (SOCA) club, which is also another club centered around identity and belonging, but also around building bridges between different groups of people, as is GSA. And then our Student Leadership Council, which has recurring yearly elections, but is a permanent club that exists, working on issues of the school, working on things that students are interested in. And then our final club is Model UN. Model UN is a relatively new addition to the permanent club group, but they've been running now for three or four years with a dedicated faculty member, and they've been participating in statewide and region-wide Model UN events for the last three years.

CH-CH: Are there any new clubs this year that stood out to you?

Ian MacPhail: There's a couple this year that stand out because there's a lot of ambition behind them. One of those is the Mock Trial Club, which is a brand new club this year. Clubs like the Feminist Club, which deals with issues of access to things for women, and especially women on campus. Global Local, which deals with servicing and engagement with the community. Boston Heroes Initiative, which is new this year, also working with community service. Art, Comics, and our new Robotics Club, which all deal with creating something new. There are so many more as well, and I love that they are so versatile and different.

CH-CH: Can students sign up for a club after the club fair is over?

Ian MacPhail: Just because you didn't sign up for a club at Clubs Fair doesn't mean you can't sign up now. At any point, if you decide that you're interested in exploring what Feminist Club or Global Local or Environment or Mock Trial has to offer, then you can. It’s never too late. Never too late to sign up. There will be a group of CH-CH students there that are excited to see you!

Full List of Clubs for 2025-2026 at CH-CH:

 Art

Basketball

Boston Heroes

Cavalry

Children of God

Comics

Debate

Entrepreneurship

Environmental

Feminist Club

Global/Local

GSA

Let's Chat

Mock Trial

MODEL UN

Music

NHS

Power Lifting

Robotics

SLC

SOCA

Ukraine