McIntosh Activities Council (McAC) Records

The McIntosh Activities Council (McAC) was established in 1969 with the goal of enhancing student experience on campus. McAC naturally formed off the dedication of the Millicent McIntosh Student Center which was a campus hub of student activity. The first iteration of McAC had only two committees: A social committee and a special events committee. By 1971, McAC had seven committees: social events, special events, films, speakers, student-faculty, Monday evening speaker dinner program, and recreation committees. In 1981, the committees changed again: commuter action, cultural events, ski and recreation, social committee, Student/Faculty, theater goers guild, and Zooprax Film Organization. In 1990, the committees were as follows: coffeehouse, mincourse, social, special events, lecture, and Emily Gregory. In 2005, the committees were as follows: performance events, special events, multicultural, community service, social study breaks, and student faculty alumnae interaction. As of Spring 2023, the committees are as follows: Action Committee, Community Committee, Mosaic Committee, Network Committee, the Spirit Week subcommittee, and the Wellness Committee.

Earlier versions of student committees with the goal of creating campus-wide events existed in the form of general student activities council. During the mid 1950s, there was a student-run Club Council where all Barnard activities would be submitted to. In 1962, following student desires for change, there was an Activities Council proposed which replaced the Club Council. Its purpose was to “provide a coordinating body for all extracurricular and co-curricular activities at Barnard” however, in its earlier years, it was hardly effective.

Goals of the council included creating consistent programming focused on community service, networking, diversity, and community building. Several of the events created by McAC became Barnard traditions. While McAC’s current goals (as of the writing of this finding aid in 2023) are to maintain these traditional events, they continue to create innovative and new programming based on the needs of the student body.

McAC plans and supports the following Barnard traditions: Midnight Breakfast, Big Sub, Spirit Week, Founder’s Day, and Emily Gregory. McAC has also revitalized the Greek Games in a different format than the original Games which were held in the early 20th century.