BCEA Integrates Intentionality Into Giving Back

a difference on our planet in the future, ” Gardner said.

Binder, who led a fellowship around the Boston area, which Holly Branco, MCAS ’25, said has been a memorable part of her

The journey to starting BCEA began in spring 2022 when the founders first applied to start the club. After gaining approval from the Office of Student Involvement, BCEA became an official club this fall and started recruiting new members, reserving rooms, and hosting meetings.

BCEA breaks down into smaller groups called fellowships, Gardner said. A fellowship consists of eight to 12 students who meet once a week for an hour to read and discuss ethics topics together.

There are introductory fellowships lasting around 10 weeks that cover a broad range of topics and introduce members to effective altruism. After that, members can participate in an in-depth fellowship where group members decide what topics they want to discuss in depth.

Gardner said. Gardner also plans to host more social events so students who do not have the time to members a chance to be reflective about both their impact on the world and their own futures. Branco, for example, shared how BCEA has gotten her to think about potential new career paths.

Gardner said the fellowships covered a wide range of topics last semester, including climate change, animal suffering, poverty, machine learning, and artificial intelligence.

“[We discuss] how, as students, we can better gear our studies towards things that might make last semester, said she really enjoyed talking about different ethical dilemmas with the other members of her fellowship.

“One branch of effective altruism focuses on non-human animals and reducing their suffering,” Binder said. “So kind of the ethical dilemmas that go along with, you know, eating meats, or specifically, we talked about choosing to donate, for example, to a cause that would save thousands of chickens versus potentially one human life. What is the measurement there?”

BCEA is part of a wider effective altruism circle around Boston. Harvard and MIT have EA student organizations. BCEA members attend socials with fellow students experience as a club member.

Branco joined BCEA last semester after learning about it at the student involvement fair. One of her favorite discussions in her introductory fellowship was about animal ethics.

“You might not immediately think insects have moral weight,” Branco said. “But one of the questions that they’ll ask is like ‘Oh, well, would you have a headache for 10 minutes to save 1000 insects?’ And a lot of people might be like “Oh well, I guess I would,’ and then that implies that you care about insects a little.”

BCEA ran two introductory fellowships last semester, and it is hoping to run three this semester, commit to weekly meetings can still engage with the BCEA community and talk with like-minded people.

Gardner said he is proud of what he and his fellow founders have accomplished and feels BCEA will continue to be a part of the BC community even though the founders will graduate this year.

“Immediately through our first rounds of fellowships, we met a number of awesome underclassmen,” Gardner said. “We’ve started from nothing and reached a point where we’re impacting the way people see the world and the way they hope to help others.”

Being a part of BCEA gives

“It’s definitely gotten me to think more about how effective my career will be in helping others’ lives,” Branco said. “And how there are a lot of options that I wouldn’t have considered before, like public policy is much more influential than I’d realized.”

Binder’s experience has also led her to take a more reflective look at her career choices, she said.

“I think the most important thing that I’ve realized is that it’s not something that is a quick process of deciding what’s a good fit for you career wise, because it’s not only that you have to have a passion for a specific area, but also that you are someone who’s qualified enough to make a difference,” Binder said.

Gardner said he is excited to see the impact BCEA will have after he graduates this spring and hopes it leads even more students to have reflective experiences.

“How can college students who have such a great impact and such a great life ahead of them use that for good under this lens of using data and reason and logic to make sure what they’re doing truly provides the best benefit that it can?” Gardner said. n