Popping the Purple Bubble

with Hire Education

A couple years ago, I had a lengthy conversation with a man on the bus on the way back to Williams after Spring break. He was heading to North Adams to start up a business, where he hoped he would be able to employ lots of residents from that area. He believed that with some economic pushes, North Adams could really flourish. I mentioned that we have a club at school that deals with these kinds of design thinking issues that he could try to get in contact with that could help in planning out his goals. He gave me his info and I gave him mine, but nothing came of it.

The Problem

The problem with Williams College and its relationship to the non collegiate community around it is that there doesn’t seem to be much of a relationship. We have some clubs that specialize in working with the community (CLiA, Alhambra, working with the local schools, etc). However, joining a club is usually a lot of comittment, and Williams students are generally very busy and reluctant to commit to yet another club if service activities aren’t their main priority. Participating in volunteer services is not the only way to interact and learn about the people that live outside our bubble. I think there are a lot of ways that students can be give back to the community around the college and grow in ways that problem sets won’t teach us. With all the different, clever minds that have all been gathered and plopped into the purple valley so conveniently, the people outside our purple bubble will definitely be able to find some use for us in their community, whether its requiring advice/work, setting up community events, or babysitting. However, many students are always on campus, in their dorms or the library, and this makes for very little opportunities to connect with people that are off-campus. Clubs can be intimidating and club opportunities are usually only passed along to members, limiting the people that are involved.

There are a lot of clubs that are involved with the community, but aren’t accessible to the average student who is maybe curious about where they are living and doesn’t want to join a club to learn about it. The perceived intensity of certain clubs is also a turn off, despite sounding very interesting and impactful. For example, Alhambra is a student consulting group that helps Berkshire busisnesses. It sounds very cool, but there is a test you have to take before you can officially join, and the word “test” is not something I want to deal with during the first week of school. How can students interact meaningfully with people outside of the college in a stress-free context?

The Solution

There should be a way for students and non-students to interact and initiate contact on their own terms. A solution could be an app where students and Berkshire residents can post about potential activities that would result in an interaction. It could also be used by our volunteer clubs as a way to promote events to non-members. Posts can be tagged by the type of activity. Is it volunteer work? Is it a paid job? It is related to math? Will it involve kids? Will it involve dogs? Users will have profiles and be able to message one another, or reply to posts, to confirm participation in activities and make communicating simple. Filters make it easy for users to find opportunities that are aligned with their interests and capabilities. With an easier and more convienient way to interact with the community outside Williams in a variety of different ways, students will hopefully be more inclined to step out of the purple bubble.