How the Erb Undergraduate Fellows Build Community

A thriving student community is built by its students. Over the last year, the Erb Fellows Council has taken an active role in cultivating the community by designing and hosting a series of events.

All Erb Fellows are required to attend one community event per semester, a program adjustment that was made in 2025. This change was driven by student feedback expressing a strong desire for the Erb Fellows experience to extend beyond academic and co-curricular requirements, and more fully embody the Erb Institute value of community. 

“The community events have been a fun way for fellows to get to know each other and spend time forging relationships outside of professional or academic settings,” said Jacquie Holt, the Erb Fellows 2026-27 co-president. “They make Erb feel like a much more tightly knit community!”

Erb Fellows join the program during their junior year and it can be challenging to find ways to form new connections and build community a few years into their undergraduate programs. These community events aim to bridge that gap, creating more intentional opportunities for their cohort to connect while ensuring participation through programmatic requirements, solving a key attendance challenge. 

Past community events have included a sustainability tour of Michigan Stadium, networking with dual-degree MBA/MS students, an eco-workday at the Nichols Arboretum, pumpkin painting, and a student-organized clothing swap.

“The past two falls, we have hosted a back-to-school bonfire, which has been one of my favorite community events so far,” said Holt. “It's been such a fun way to reunite with Fellows and meet the new cohort as we all settle into the new school year!”

These events reinforce what has always been a key pillar of the Erb Institute: community is not simply something students join, but something they collectively build. Through these efforts, the Erb Fellows Council is helping to establish a culture of community and connection and  laying the foundation for future generations of Erb Fellows.