Start a Club
Found an Open Discourse Club at your school
As a club founder, you join the Open Discourse Collective. Here is everything you need to get started.
Founder's checklist
Four steps to launch your club
- 1
Find a faculty sponsor
Ask a faculty member to advise your club, serve as its liaison to your school's administration, and help with whatever it needs to flourish.
- 2
Build a founding group
Identify five other people in your school community who want to be involved in your new club.
- 3
Choose a co-founder
Pick at least one other person from your school to found the club with you. Your co-founder works alongside you on every part of the launch and is your equal within the Collective.
- 4
Submit the founder form
Tell us about your club so we can welcome you into the Collective.
Already finished steps 1 through 3?
Submit the founder form right away. If you are still working on them, keep going and complete each step as soon as you can.
How clubs run
A simple structure any school can adapt
Shared leadership
Co-founders lead the club as equals, with a faculty sponsor advising them and a founding group of members behind them.
Regular sessions
Small-group discussions held every few weeks. They build trust and give new members an easy way in.
Open forums
Larger moderated events on major public questions, open to the whole school.
Membership
What member clubs receive
- Support from our Director of Internal Affairs, who oversees Open Discourse Clubs and their leaders
- Ground-rule frameworks and moderation guidance
- Help proposing the club and getting it approved at your school
- Topic ideas and formats for sessions and forums
- A network of clubs at high schools across the country