As of fall 2025, Tulane University has 316 recognized student organizations. With an undergraduate population of approximately 8,100 students, RSOs are an essential part of campus life. Some organizations include performance groups, service organizations, honor societies, fraternities, sororities and sports.  

All students can charter new organizations within a two-week turnaround, provided they fulfill specific requirements.  

“Myself and one of my colleagues look at constitutions [of prospective organizations] to make sure that there’s some policy and process in place,” Ben Griffith, assistant director of recognized students organizations, said. “They have to have 10 members, they have to have an active faculty or staff advisor and they can’t be a duplicative organization.” 

During the 2023-2024 academic year, there were 287 undergraduate student organizations, and 37 student organizations were chartered. The following year, the number of undergraduate student organizations jumped to 351, with 56 new student organizations approved. The charter of 56 student organizations is a 51% increase from the previous year.  

Griffith notes that measuring the popularity of an organization is difficult, since the data are collected using WaveSync. This software contains pages for every organization on campus, including schools and departments. Since WaveSync pages are easily accessible to users, they often reflect student interest over the number of active members. 

“I think that there is nuance in the impact, why people join, if they’re an active member or not, because there’s varying levels of being an engaged member,” Griffith said. “Students want to be a part of something bigger than themselves. I think that’s what draws people to join certain organizations.”

Among the top twenty RSOs based on WaveSync membership are the Tulane University Service Dog Training and Education Program, Green Club, Pre-Medical Society, Tulane University Neuroscience Association and Feminist Alliance of Students at Tulane. TUSTEP, with 1,345 members, and Green Club, with 1,034 members, are the top two organizations. Both of them are community service organizations.