# Student Organizations and Leadership ## expand\_more ![Laughing HDS students in the commons](/sites/g/files/omnuum5526/files/hds2/files/commlife-studorg-banner-06162022-184.jpg) Student organizations provide opportunities for involvement, leadership, programming, social connections, and experiential learning that are crucial to the educational mission of the Divinity School. The Office of Student Life supports student organizations at HDS. HDS student organizations reflect the diversity of student needs and interests. Resources are given to those students with new ideas who would like to establish new groups, as well as to the further growth and development of existing groups. All student organizations register with the Office of Student Life on an annual basis. Current HDS students can find the paperwork to register a new organization on the [Student Life page of my.hds](https://my.hds.harvard.edu/offices/student-life). ## HDS Student Organizations Following is a list of student organizations currently registered for the 2025–26 academic year. While many organizations carry on from year to year, many new organizations form and others subside. As a courtesy to our student organization leaders, we maintain a policy of not publicizing or distributing their contact information, but all are happy to receive inquiries about their involvement here at HDS. Registered student organizations wishing to create programming at HDS can use the Online Student Event Planning and Request Form found on the [Student Life page of my.hds](https://my.hds.harvard.edu/offices/student-life), to request program needs: funding, meeting space, A/V support, and so on. To be put in contact with the officers of a particular student organization, please [email the Office of Student Life](mailto:studentlife@hds.harvard.edu). Open all sections Close all sections ### HDS 300 Words expand\_more A writers' group centered around rhythm, practice and community. Each member of the collective is asked to commit to writing 300 words daily — any form, any subject, any structure. We gather once a week and each share one of the 300 word segments aloud. Depending on the writer and what they're comfortable with, the collective will respond — with praise, love, and prodding. The collective also runs the publication Suture Magazine. ### Anglican/Episcopal Fellowship at HDS expand\_more Known as the “middle way,” Anglicanism is both reformed and catholic. The Episcopal Church is descended from both the Church of England and the Scottish Episcopal Church. It remains connected to the traditions of the Early Church through confession of the historic creeds, bishops in the apostolic succession, and our worship, which retains ancient Christian liturgical forms. The Episcopal Church is the only U.S. based member of the global Anglican Communion and also includes dioceses in 22 countries worldwide. ### APIDA @ HDS expand\_more APIDA at HDS seeks to provide an inclusive space for affinity, community, and solidarity amongst people from Asia and its diaspora. Asian-American encompasses various racial/ethnic identities, colonial histories, immigration histories, class statuses, cultures, religious/spiritual traditions, and languages. Due to the expansiveness of the label APIDA, we acknowledge that we will not always fully capture the diverse cultures, traditions, and experiences of all Asian-Americans. Therefore, we always invite our members to contribute to our conversations, events, etc. ### HDS Barefoot Club expand\_more From ritual foot-washing in Christianity, ablution in Islam, barefoot pilgrimage in Buddhism to feet reverence in Hinduism, our bodies’ most humble ends carry a profound spiritual, historical, and cultural significance. The practice of going barefoot invites us into embodiment, reminding us of our connection to the earth and to one another. At HDS Barefoot Club, we are a community committed to honoring where our feet have taken us and where they will continue to bring us. We meet to experiment with practices of embodiment and decolonizing the notion of feet through barefoot walks, foot-based rituals, shoe donations, and interfaith explorations of what feet mean across traditions. 👣 ### BBYSnaxx at HDS expand\_more This affinity-based collective at Harvard Divinity School operates as a site of multicultural epistemological exchange, deploying alimentary artifacts as entry points for dialogic engagement and identity negotiation. Through the periodic curation and consumption of gustatory items representative of diverse ethnocultural histories, participants investigate the interplay between memory, affect, and belonging within the community. ### HDS Buddhist Community expand\_more HDS Buddhist Community is the primary organization for all Buddhist and Buddhist-adjacent community at HDS, though most events are open to the public. We are a Buddhadharma community welcoming to people of all identities, experiences, and backgrounds. We explicitly center anti-oppressive social and spiritual transformation, radical dharma, and pan-sectarian Buddhist practice. At every level, HDS Buddhist Community intentionally honors the living Asian ancestors and stewards of the diaspora Buddhist wisdom tradition. We strive to actively combat white supremacy, colonial domination, and the ongoing erasure of BIPOC Buddhists. ### Burning Refuge Collective at HDS expand\_more The Burning Refuge Collective mobilizes leaders, organizers, and community members across the Buddhist and Buddhist-adjacent global diaspora towards social-spiritual liberation. We uniquely center queer/trans, Asian diaspora & BIPOC, and youth leadership in predominantly white-centered Buddhist institutions and discourses. To that end, our work spans practiced spiritual innovation, deep intellectual reflection, and multimodal spiritual kinship building. ### HDS Catholics & Friends expand\_more HDS Catholics & Friends seeks to provide spiritual support and fellowship for the Catholic community at HDS. We also seek to share in the full depth and breadth of interreligious dialogue and interfaith work with all of our fellow students and religious student organizations. Our activities vary based on the interests of our membership but typically include Mass and social gatherings. Please come join us! ### HDS Christian Fellowship expand\_more Join the Harvard Divinity School Christian Fellowship for a weekly bible study, worship and fellowship at 5:30 on Tuesdays in the Williams Chapel. We are a community of Christ followers at the Divinity School who believe in the authority of the Holy Bible. ### HDS Creative Writers and Editors Student Group expand\_more The HDS Creative Writers and Editors Student Group is a vibrant community of students passionate about the written word in all its forms. Rooted in the diverse spiritual, cultural, and intellectual traditions of HDS, our group provides a space for creative expression, thoughtful editing, and collaborative growth. We welcome all levels of experience and genres. Through workshops, peer review sessions, and publishing opportunities, we aim to support the development of meaningful, impactful writing. Join us to write, edit, reflect, and connect. ### HDS Ecologians expand\_more HDS Ecologians are a community of students who are committed to reorienting our theological frameworks around an ecological ethic to confront our current environmental crisis. If you are interested in being part of a community centered around praxis for the planet, whether that be through organizing efforts, fostering dialogue, and collaborating with organizations across the Harvard community who also care about advocating for people, animals, and the planet...join us! ### HDS Farmer Collective expand\_more The HDS Farmer Collective is for those of us who hope to apply what we’re learning here at HDS to regenerative agriculture, local food systems and/or land management projects. We welcome people of all backgrounds and experiences to join our collective as we imagine how to practice ecological principles responsibly and creatively. This will mean ongoing conversations that invite self-reflexivity around how our positionalities impact the ways we might engage with land to further justice and healing. We will meet regularly to support, challenge, have fun, and dream together. Feminists Making Midrash is a community that gathers weekly for deep conversation and exploration grounded in the study, (re)interpretation, and (re)imagination of Jewish texts. We encourage people of all faith backgrounds and practices to bring their experience and perspective to our discussions; you can come to as many or as few sessions as you would like! ### HDS Feminists Making Midrash expand\_more Feminists Making Midrash is a community that gathers weekly for deep conversation and exploration grounded in the study, (re)interpretation, and (re)imagination of Jewish texts. We encourage people of all faith backgrounds and practices to bring their experience and perspective to our discussions; you can come to as many or as few sessions as you would like! ### HDS Fiber Arts expand\_more HDS Fiber Arts is a community of crafters and creators who enjoy the whimsically sacred practices including but not limited to knitting, crochet, sewing, mending, and embroidery. From knitting critters for pediatric cancer patients to teaching introductory sewing skills this group strives to weave connections and strengthen community. ### HDS Film Fest expand\_more Founded in 2017, the HDS Film Fest is an annual student-led festival that explores the intersectionality of film and faith. We believe that films and filmmaking are important tools for advancing academic scholarship. ### HDS Friends (Quakers) expand\_more HDS Friends' Meeting for Worship is unprogrammed. Our hour together is primarily silent, but may include brief spoken ministry when a worshipper is so moved. We gather to center ourselves, wait on, and experience the presence of what Friends have variously called the Spirit, the Light, the Divine, God, and so on. We welcome all who want to worship with us! – Partially adapted from the Friends Meeting at Cambridge’s “What to Expect” page. ### HDS Ganga expand\_more HDS Ganga is a space at HDS for both Hindu and South Asian students and for students interested in exploring Hinduism. The group seeks to encourage open dialogue, critical reflection, and vibrant practice around the spiritual, philosophical, and cultural traditions of Hinduism. ### HDS Garden Group expand\_more The HDS Garden grows organic vegetables and flowers for the community and serves as a space for quiet reflection, communal celebration, and hands getting dirty. ### Graduate Journal of Harvard Divinity School expand\_more The Graduate Journal of Harvard Divinity School is an academic publication dedicated to publishing papers within the multifaceted world of the study of religion. The Journal is staffed entirely by HDS students who work to create a yearly print publication. ### Harambee: Students of African Descent at HDS expand\_more Harambee's purpose is to build an intentional community and celebrate Black cultural and historical matters, to look to interdisciplinary scholarship and engagement for training in ethical leadership to address the world’s most pressing issues. We strive to celebrate all forms of Blackness and all parts of the African diaspora. We also intentionally honor and invoke our ancestors as descendants of formerly enslaved persons. Symbolically, we collectively embody the Sankofa. In doing so, the HDS Harambee Community reintegrates all aspects of the African diaspora while unrooting the seen and unseen violence of whiteness and other oppressive hegemonies and histories that prohibit Black flourishing. ### HDS Jewish Ritual Chavurah expand\_more The HDS Jewish Ritual Chavurah is a community for Jewish students to join together to observe and celebrate Jewish rituals and holidays. This is a space for people excited about sharing in ritual creation and spiritual practice, or interested in learning more. Each semester we will host several shabbats, havdallahs, and other holiday celebrations together in tune with the Jewish calendar. The Ritual Chavurah is a non-denominational, pluralistic space; all Jewish backgrounds, experience, and knowledge welcome! ### HDS Jews for Liberation expand\_more HDS Jews for Liberation (aka J4L) is a warm, creative, spiritual and political home for anti-Zionist, non-Zionist, and diasporist Jews, as well as Jews questioning their relationship with Zionism. ### HDS Justice and Music Collective expand\_more The HDS Justice and Music Collective (JAM) is a community of students dedicated to engaging with music as a means of healing, empowerment, and resistance. This group holds weekly open jam sessions on campus and is focused on bringing music and arts programming to the greater community in meaningful ways. ### HDS Latine and Caribbean Students Association expand\_more HDS Latine and Caribbean Students Association provides an affinity space for students of Latin American and Caribbean diasporas to connect, celebrate cultures, and build community. Through regular gatherings and cultural events, we seek to foster belonging across the HDS student community and are open to all students. ### HDS Law expand\_more You do not need to be a lawyer or an aspiring lawyer to join HDS Law. HDS Law is a nonpartisan student organization dedicated to fostering academic research, critical dialogue, and rigorous analysis of the dynamic interplay between religion and historical, social, political, and legal contexts. The organization explores how these intersections shape power structures, societal norms, systemic disparities, and the legal frameworks that govern communities. Through faculty-led discussions and speaker events featuring distinguished theologians, attorneys, renowned scholars, political leaders, and thought-provoking experts, HDS Law serves as a vibrant platform for examining the profound influence of religion on legal systems and societal norms. Whether you are an aspiring lawyer, a religious scholar, or a student intrigued by the broader implications of law and faith, HDS Law invites you to engage in critical discourse on the complex forces that shape our world. ### HDS Magick Paths expand\_more HDS Magick Paths is dedicated to creating a welcoming and supportive community where seekers and practitioners of all magickal traditions can gather, learn, and share their journeys. ### HDS Merton Society expand\_more HDS Merton Society exists to share and live the teachings of Thomas Merton forward within the Contemplative Christian tradition. The group will gather to discuss works of Merton, practice contemplative prayer, and invite speakers to facilitate dialogue on spirituality, inter-religious collaboration, and social action. ### HDS Mormonisms expand\_more HDS Mormonisms gathers students across the spectrum of Latter-day Saint restorationist faith from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) and the Community of Christ (RLDS) traditions, as well as friends interested in learning more about our faith tradition. This group hopes to build expansive, whole-hearted community among HDS students that strengthens faith and intellect and promotes inclusive Mormon futures, creating space for individuals across faith identities and levels of formal institutional participation. ### Muslim Feminists for the Arts at HDS expand\_more Muslim Feminists for the Arts at HDS aims to create artwork and conversation, surveying a range of artistic practices from across the Islamic tradition. From embroidery to printmaking to devotional poetry and songs, the tradition of spirituality and craft is rich in many Muslim-majority communities throughout the world. Conversations will be informed by the cultural significance of the artwork, its practice, and the role of Islamic principles of divine beauty, textual preservation, and mindfulness. While Islamic influences are widely visible in the aesthetics around us, their originators—often women, folk artists, and/or colonized peoples—are still underappreciated; the highlighted art forms are selected to represent some of the many diverse artists and traditions of the Muslim world and their cultural, historical, and social significance. Open to all. ### HDS Muslims expand\_more HDS Muslims is open to all HDS students looking to build community and explore faith in a curious and compassionate environment. Throughout the year we will host educational events, informal gatherings, halaqa (circle of learning), and programming led by community members. ### HDS Pagan Explorations and Magick Paths expand\_more The HDS Pagan Explorations and Magicks Paths group seeks to create a space for Pagan Students and students interested in magick a safe space to gather, practice, and share their experiences. ### HDS Presbyterians & Friends expand\_more HDS Presbyterians & Friends are a group of students who meet, usually with denominational counselor, Rev. Burns Stanfield, for fellowship, support, and discernment within the context of the PCUSA tradition. ### HDS Prison Abolition Community expand\_more HDS Prison Abolition Community supports local organizing efforts to dismantle the prison system. HDS Presbyterians & Friends are a group of students who meet, usually with denominational counselor, Rev. Burns Stanfield, for fellowship, support, and discernment within the context of the PCUSA tradition. ### HDS Queer Rites expand\_more HDS Queer Rites is a group of students who have come together to foster dialogue and to explore ritual around what it means to be queer, what it means to be spiritual, and where those two intersect and interact. We are a space for investigation of the meaning of being queer at HDS. ### HDS Reproductive Justice Collective expand\_more We are a group of advocates, doulas and academics working at the intersection of religion, spirituality and reproductive justice. ### HDS Spirituality and Medicine expand\_more HDS Spirituality and Medicine (HDS-SM) brings together students across and beyond the Divinity school in exploration, discussion, and embodiment of all things religion, medicine, and spiritual care. We share a commitment to studying these complex and vitally important issues, believing that spirituality is not supplementary but essential to human healing. HDS-SM is a forum for information sharing, professional development, and moral support. We welcome students of all backgrounds and interests to join us in conversation and community :). We are a group of advocates, doulas and academics working at the intersection of religion, spirituality and reproductive justice. ### Sexual Ethics and Reproductive Justice at HDS expand\_more The Sexual Ethics and Reproductive Justice group at HDS is a pro-choice, sex-positive space for interdisciplinary text study, advocacy, and education. ### HDS Study of Non-ordinary States Acknowledging Roots, SONAR expand\_more Welcome to HDS SONAR (Study of Non-ordinary States Acknowledging Roots). We're a peer-led circle, navigating spirituality and non-ordinary states while learning from global wisdom traditions. Our focus is on community and adaptability, and valuing everyone's voice. We're not tied to a specific faith and invite you to bring your diverse religious and spiritual perspectives and share practices that inform your understanding of non-ordinary states. Dive in with us for collective exploration and connection. ### HDS Students for Justice in Palestine expand\_more HDS Students for Justice in Palestine stands in solidarity with Palestinians living under occupation and in the diaspora through educational programming, organizing, and more. With a fundamental belief in the dignity and rights of all human beings, we protest the conditions of the Israeli apartheid state and advocate for a world without occupation, systemic racism, genocide, and colonialism of all kinds. ### Taylor Swift: Faith & Folklore at HDS expand\_more Taylor Swift: Faith & Folklore is a club dedicated to exploring the religious, spiritual, and literature references in Taylor Swift’s work as a community. As an entertainment phenomena, Swift has become a cultural zeitgeist. This club examines the deep societal commentary of Swift’s lyricism. ### HDS Transgressive Arts expand\_more HDS Transgressive Arts (HDS TARTS) is a group dedicated to exploring the intersection of contemporary art and contemplative practice. We investigate how engagement with non-traditional and transgressive media, as an audience and as creators, can be transformed into genuine Buddhist insight, drawing on the concept of upāya (skillful means). Our project provides a space to discuss the evolving landscape of spiritual practice and the surprising places the sacred can be found. ### VeriTOSS HDS Ultimate Frisbee Club expand\_more We are a very relaxed group for playing the best sport ever, ultimate frisbee! We host casual and sometimes spontaneous throws on the green, a few bigger scrimmages per semester, and some of us may occasionally play with the Harvard Ultimate teams in their weekly Sunday mini tourneys. We’re a home for anyone at HDS who loves playing frisbee outside with cool people! No experience necessary. ### HDS Unitarian Universalist Ministry for Students expand\_more HUUMS's mission is to support each other in studies, vocations, and lives through worship, professional and spiritual development opportunities, and fellowship; to advocate for excellence in UU scholarship and ministry at HDS; and to represent the interests of its members in the larger community of HDS, the BTI, and Unitarian Universalism. Email: ## Other groups open to students Open all sections Close all sections ### Harvard Divinity School Choir expand\_more The HDS Choir sings at weekly Noon Services and the annual "Seasons of Light" celebration in December. The choir rehearses on Wednesdays at 11:30 am in Williams Chapel before Noon Service. All students, staff, and faculty are welcome to sing in the choir, even if they have no prior experience. Anyone interested in joining the choir may contact [Christopher Hossfeld](mailto:chossfeld@hds.harvard.edu), Director of Music and Ritual. ### Wednesday Noon Service Steering Committee expand\_more Hosted each week by a different religious community of the HDS campus and overseen by a steering committee of students and staff, this weekly service allows the HDS community to pray with our companions across the boundaries of our many respective traditions. The Wednesday Noon Service Steering Committee is dedicated to creating a safe and respectful environment for diverse faith-based and student-run groups at HDS. Acknowledging the unique religious diversity of our campus, we aim to support and advance the religious pluralism of the School by engaging and honoring the many religious perspectives, commitments, and experiences among us. By creating a recognized time and place for all of us to come together in prayer, in reflection, in ritual, and in conversation, we seek not only to aid the ongoing dialogue among our various faiths, but also to come to know and to serve each other.