Student Organizations

The BSO presented the Ten Demands to President Park, 1969.

Since the creation of the Student Government Association (SGA) in 1902, Simmons College has continued the tradition of club activity. There are now over forty student organizations associated with the College, five of which deal specifically with supporting the rights and culture of minority students at Simmons.

The oldest of these student organizations is the Black Student Organization (BSO). The BSO was founded in 1967, evolving out of the Simmons Civil Rights Club (SCRC). On April 25, 1969, the BSO, in response to a lack of recognition by the faculty and administration of the College to the needs of Black students, presented President William Park with a list of ten demands related to changes in the curriculum, faculty, student body, and financial aid. President Park accepted the demands on May 7.

As an outgrowth of societal change and the visionary action of Black students in the late 1960s, Simmons College added an African American Studies Program in 1973. The Program’s newsletter, Vantage Point, began that year as well. Our Little Black Book, produced by the BSO, was first released in 1974 and continues annually to this day, containing photographs of and creative work by Black students at Simmons. In addition to demonstrative growth in the number of faculty and staff of color during the 1970s, a record 294 Black students graduated from Simmons College during the decade.

Asian Student Organization event, 1986.

In 2015, the BSO issued a set of updated Ten Demands to President Helen Drinan in response to a continued perceived lack of College support for minority students. 

The BSO, however, is not the only student organization that aims to create a safe space for minority students. The Asian Student Organization (ASA) acts to create a support system for Asian students at Simmons College. The Simmons College Islamic Society tasks themselves with creating a comfortable environment for those who identity either socially or religiously with the Islamic community. The Organización Latino América (OLA) serves to represent the Latino community at Simmons. And the Multicultural and International Student Organization (MISO) provide a space for multicultural and international students.