My core friend group on campus is evenly split between athletes and non-athletes — with three of each. Though we have different seasons, competition schedules, and commitments, we remain close by making an effort to grab dinner every week and supporting each other at our performances and games. We were lucky to have been in the same first-year entry and to have become close quickly, but this kind of friendship between athletes and non-athletes is far from uncommon at the College.
Last week an op-ed in the Record by Felix Barman ’27 argued that athletic culture creates a social divide on campus. The piece raised good points about some systemic dividing forces at the College, like the Team Eph program held during EphVentures and a party culture that tends to revolve around sports teams.
But let’s take a step back. You will find cliques wherever you go — they are not exclusive to college athletics. Students are constantly fostering individual friendships and connections across the athletic divide.
It’s important that the insularity of sports teams and other student groups at the College be put in context. Compared to Div. I institutions where practice takes up so much time that athletes can’t interact with non-athletes through clubs, or where the social scene is dominated by Greek life, I think that Williams does fairly well in creating a cohesive student body.
On my team — women’s crew — everyone I know has close friends and interests outside of the sport. There are rowers on Ski Patrol, the WOC board, Treestyle, the Record, a cappella groups, and Koreans of Williams (KoW). Even during team study sessions at Goodrich, I often meet new people outside of the crew team through mutual friends.
Some people may argue that women’s crew is less insular than the average team, but from what I’ve seen, this kind of branching out is common on many other teams. Basketball players lead bible study groups. Swimmers and cross-country runners play in bands. Squash and softball players pick into housing groups with friends from outside the team.
I agree with Barman that the divide is most noticeable at parties. We should foster more interactions across the divide earlier in the night. In the past, women’s crew has done mixers with teams outside the varsity sphere like club sailing and club soccer, but I would love to see an even broader variety of groups included in mixers. Perhaps there could be a group chat with the social chairs of all active student organizations to reach that goal.
Generally, though, students meet because of shared interests. Luckily, with the College’s large variety in student groups, that doesn’t have to be just an interest in sports. When I was going through the athletic recruitment process in high school, comparing different colleges, an important question I had for coaches was whether their rowers were able to be involved in clubs besides rowing.
Williams stood out because the coach that I talked to told me that almost all the rowers were involved in one or two activities beyond the team. While doing so required time management, she said, it was definitely doable. My teammates, other athletes on campus, and I soon found this to be true.
While participating in sports takes up a lot of time — and that can make it easy for athletes to focus only on their sport and their team — many athletes have a variety of interests that allow them to find communities outside of their sport.
There are many opportunities for athletes and non-athletes alike to interact with different groups of people at the College. At the Chinese language table, I run into athletes and non-athletes alike, all of them working to hone their Chinese skills. When my a cappella group, Good Question, welcomed new members in the fall, two of them were seniors on different varsity sports teams. This same pattern of athletes branching out into non-athletic groups is exemplified through other a cappella groups as well. Purple Rain, Spring Streeters, Accidentals, and Ephlats all have one or more athlete members.
Social cliques are natural wherever you go. They are formed on the basis of shared interests, experiences, or values, regardless of your status as an athlete or non-athlete. Thus, while there may still be room for growth, student-athletes at the College have shown that we care deeply about a variety of subjects. We put in the work to be active members of the community both through sports and other extracurricular activities.
Charis Woo ’27 is from Orinda, Calif.
