How to Start a Student Organization at Drexel University

MedFit students participate in a Pilates class. Photo courtesy of MedFit. 

As students at Drexel University head towards a new year, they have an opportunity to create a new student organization. Every year near the end of the summer quarter, applications open from Student Life for students to make their ideas come to life.

For Whitney Nguyen, nursing ’27 and Isabella Mazuca, nursing ’26, both from the College of Nursing and Health Professions, their idea was to bring together future healthcare professionals in empowering settings to focus on their own wellness. Over about a year and a half, they formally established MedFit Mind and Movement, a group by and for future healthcare professionals of all backgrounds.

“Towards the end of our second year, we were just sitting on our couch, talking about our experiences on campus and that's when we started MedFit. In my personal experience, when you’re taking care of others, you’re going through their trauma with them in a sense, and it’s hard and you get very easily burnt out” said Nguyen. “It’s nice to have MedFit and have that benefit of finding a sense of belonging and taking care of your own health as well.”

A student who is about to start their first year at Drexel is not eligible to start a new organization, but any other student can. It’s a lengthy process that takes more than a year before an accepted organization is considered a fully-fledged operation that can receive funding, but it all starts with an information session to learn what the process will look like.

“When they’re applying, they’re going to give us the basic overview of what type of organization they’re looking to start, if there are any national affiliations or affiliations with a certain college,” said Student Organization Resource and Finance Director of Finance and Administration Jen Tifone.

Students are typically asked to spend some time on DragonLink, a Drexel website promoting student organizations and their events, before applying to see what groups already exist at Drexel.

“There are 275 that are currently active, so a lot of the bases have already been covered and we don’t want duplicates,” said Tifone.

If there's a very similar organization on campus already, it’s not going to get very far in the application process. At this preliminary discovery stage, Tifone and the team also ask students to talk with others to get a show of support for the new organization, and potentially find faculty or staff recommendations for the organization as well. That won’t guarantee that you’ll move onto the next step, but it gives Tifone an idea of what kind of support is there already, which can forecast if the organization will be successful.

Nguyen and her fellow founders discovered a niche their organization fit into. There are organizations that do similar things to MedFit, like those for a specific discipline of healthcare majors or those that promote fitness and wellness for the overall student body, but MedFit found a community within those umbrellas and made a place where students across all healthcare disciplines can improve their health and wellness to help others.

“We believe that building relationships with students from different professions early on really helps prepare us for the collaborative nature of healthcare, where we work in hospitals, nursing homes, et cetera,” Nguyen said. “At the same time, we wanted to emphasize that fitness and wellness and taking care of yourself is essential if you want to effectively care for others. That combination of interdisciplinary community and personal wellness is like what truly makes MedFit what it is.”

Applications will be due by week four of fall term, Tifone said. From there, they’ll be reviewed and offers will be sent out to about 40 candidates for interviews. The committee includes members from Student Life and leaders from the Undergraduate Student Government Association (USGA) and the Graduation Student Association (GSA), and they’ll cut the group of 40 in about half by the end of the process.

For those who move forward, the first year is crucial. Dragon organizations have they must meet within the first 18 months to remain as an organization, like having certain officers, a completed constitution and various leadership meetings to attend. The Student Life team them with events just for Dragon organizations to help them stay on track, like office hours with the Student Organization Resource Center (SORC). In Nguyen’s case, they found that collaborating with other organizations helped them build their foundation in the first year. It helped them build community and find students in other healthcare disciplines and backgrounds to connect with.

Building a strong team that believes in the group’s mission is a big part of building a strong organization, Nguyen said, and you have to be aware of different leadership styles and ways people can contribute. Adapting as you go is important.

“The team that I had really shaped the environment that I worked in and really set MedFit up for success, so I'm really grateful for Izzy, Riley [our fellow board members], and our fellow executive board members,” Nguyen said. “They were able to help us clarify gaps and ensure that we were meeting the right guidelines and that our events and initiatives were running smoothly and meeting the needs of our community.”

Within that team, you have to have a faculty adviser and students serving in a few key roles in order to stay a certified organization: president, vice president, treasurer and event coordinator. You also have to develop a constitution for the organization, so it’s important to have people who believe in the mission. Finally, once you’ve proved the strength of the group, you become a full Blue or Gold organization; Gold organizations require more leadership credits and officer positions, but you also receive funding from the Student Activity Fee Allocation Committee (SAFAC) and can request space allocation.

“Every decision you make should always come back to your mission and the values that inspired you to start the club and the organization in the first place,” Nguyen said.

MedFit became a fully-fledged level organization in December 2024. Since then, they’ve hosted events like yoga, Pilates, group walks and pickleball matches, as well as arts and crafts events like bracelet-making and painting canvases and pumpkins. They also visited the Franklin Institute at a discounted price to view anatomy displays — all things they couldn't have done without taking the first step and applying to make MedFit happen.

“We were like, ‘We owe it to ourselves to see how this will go if we just try,’” Nguyen said. “To watch it grow into an organization that’s made a meaningful impact has been incredibly rewarding and surprising to see. It shows that if you have an idea you’re passionate about, it’s worth pursuing even if you don’t know exactly how it’s going to work out.”