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The new school year doesn’t just bring classes and syllabi — it ushers in comp season. As clubs recruit a new class of students, coffee chats and meet-and-greets fill Google calendars. Inaugurated by the annual Student Organization Fair, email inboxes and Instagram stories are flooded with welcome back events, open houses, and info sessions. With more than 500 student organizations present on campus, how do students decide which ones to scope out?

It might be that free food and luxury perks have a lot to do with it. It starts simple. From burritos to boba and everything in between, clubs offer a cornucopia of tasty items to members and prospective members apart. These are more than snacks; they’re advertisements, drawing curious students through the door. Emails with [FREE FOOD] and [FREE TRAVEL] in the subject line and flyers adorned with donuts are hard to ignore. Club events replace dinner time on Google calendars.

Food is just the starting point. Harvard clubs compete with a whole arsenal of luxury perks: subsidized, high-quality merchandise, lavish and exclusive parties, glitzy weekend trips — you might even spot the occasional Patagonia fleece. The result is less about what an organization stands for and more about what it can offer.

In this “perks economy,” community is built on giveaways, and the best-resourced clubs come out on top.

The consequences go beyond who gets to eat. Clubs with strong budgets, often pre-professional groups like consulting or finance organizations, draw large crowds not just because of their career pipelines but because of the perks that surround them. Meanwhile, affinity orgs, activist groups, and smaller student-led communities likely struggle to compete for attention without the same financial backing.

For instance, Harvard Undergraduate Consulting Group brought in over $440,000 in revenue and has over $1 million in assets. It boasts high-profile clients, including Disney and Pepsi Co. With funding this high, the organization can afford programs like “HUCG Takes Boston,” exposing members to expensive brunches, concerts, and sporting events. Alongside career incentives, with these perks, why would a student choose to join a passion-focused group?

For public-service oriented groups that presumably bring in less revenue, facing down superpowered preprofessional groups for membership is a daring prospect.

The disparity matters. College is meant to be a time for exploration where students discover passions and interests they didn’t know they possessed. When flashy merch, corporate sponsorships, and hefty alumni networks are leveraged as incentives, students are nudged toward certain paths before they’ve had the chance to explore any alternatives.

You might have walked into a finance event for the free Owala, but suddenly you’re swept up in coffee chats, case prep, and resume workshops. By contrast, the smaller organization that can only offer chips and salsa risks being overlooked — not because its mission is any less meaningful, but because it lacks resources to compete.

Funding can create socioeconomic disparities, too. Differences in clubs’ abilities to offer financial aid create an uneven playing field for organizations. HUCG distributes “tens of thousands of dollars” to members in financial aid each year, providing an extra incentive for students to join. Public service may be a passion project, but it won’t pay the bills.

In addition to recruitment inequalities, perks risk cheapening events. A slice of pizza might buy you an hour of attention, but does it get you genuine engagement? Students might be driven to pursue board positions for retreats and resume ornaments rather than for meaningful commitment. This transactional perception of extracurriculars could lead many students to see their responsibilities as burdensome, not enriching.

As a result, smaller clubs without flashy perks may receive more genuine, passionate commitment than large pre-professional organizations, a key to building intimacy and authenticity. Smaller clubs might be diamonds in the rough but struggle to attract a robust incoming class due to difficulties with recruitment. Hot Cheetos simply can’t compete with paid international trips.

College should be a laboratory for values — a space where students experiment not only with ideas but also with commitments. If our choices are shaped more by which club can afford boba than by which cause resonates with us, we’re missing the point of campus life. Perks may draw us in, but purpose is what should keep us there. Give the public service organization a chance. Connect with friends at affinity organization events. Try out for the dance group. The real perk could be the community you find.

Melanie Garcia ‘27, a Crimson Editorial Editor, is a Government concentrator in Pforzheimer House.