Davidson College Top Questions

Greek events and apartment parties are virtually the only social drinking functions on campus. Do not come here if you are looking to go clubbing in Charlotte on weekends. Students also regularly attend art and athletic events, and the Union board sponsors a million events that are alcohol free if thats not your thing.

Basketball is huge. Dance Ensemble is big. Football is not that big but we will recognize it. The improv groups are cool too. Don't come here for pretty girls. The union board is really good about having events for students that don't drink, for example they had Chick-fil-a night this past weekend where you show up and get free food. One tradition is the midnight scream during finals. Most people party here but I would say its because of the workload.

Students rarely lock their doors. The Honor Code is a huge deal, and its effects are manifest throughout campus. Students just drop all their belongings, including laptops, at the entrance to Commons (the dining hall). These items are in plain view and not in anyone's line of sight. Yet, the students trust each other to live with Honor. It makes Davidson a wonderful place to be.

Students in dorms leave their doors open all the time. We have a pretty serious honor code, and although there are occasionally thefts/vandalisms, etc, they are very rare. Theater, speakers, and athletic events are all well attended, and the larger athletic events (read: basketball games) are VERY well attended. If I'm awake at 2am on a Tuesday, I'm probably studying for a test or chillin with friends. The dating scene isn't super well-developed, it's more of a drunken hookup scene, but there are definitely a good number of couples on campus.

Everything from theatre productions to a cappella concerts to basketball games, debates, guest speakers, benefit dinners - everything is well attended by both students and local families. Tuesdays you definitely don't see any parties. Wednesdays - Saturdays, if you want a party it's easy to find one. Tons of neat traditions. We are an hour from the mountains, 3 hours from beaches, and 20 from a big cities.

A large percentage of Davidson's population is involved in the Fraternities for men or the Eating Houses for women. Eating Houses are these really cool organizations that are kinda like sororities except people don't live in the houses and no pledging is required. There are many other types of organizations for people to get involved in as well. I am a part of a group called FLY (For Loving Yourself) which has done great thing around campus in an effort to promote positive body image. Basketball games are really popular events, as are Live Thursdays, a sort of open mic night performance put on every Thursday in the Student Union. There are three singing groups on campus that are awesome, as well as an enormous dance ensemble that puts on two sold out performances a semester. Davidson also puts on a big concert every year that usually attracts a big name. This year it was Jason Mraz. As far as partying go people usually go out pretty hard on Friday and Saturday nights. Wednesday is also considered a party night, but less people take part in mid week parties. Davidson does however, do a great job of providing weekend night activities that don't involve drinking such as movie showings, paint your own pottery nights, and midnight pancake breakfasts.

The more popular grounds would tend to be fraternities, eating houses, and athletic teams. Not all too different from most schools but I would say there is less of a divide between those groups and those not involved in those groups. There is an AMAZING honor code on campus that is able to work because of the small closeknit student body. I have seen many other "honor codes" in action and nothing that I've ever seen is followed like this one. Students leave their rooms open and unlocked, leave backpacks and even lap tops etc laying around while they go to get a bite to eat. There is trust and harsh punishments for those who break that trust. Athletics are pretty popular. Basketball is the main attraction but football, baseball, soccer, and others pull in good sized crowds as well. There is lots of dating and lots of "hook ups" that go on but things in this department are not quite up to the standard of most colleges. Your best friends will be your hallmates and if you play a sport your teammates (same for other groups like music, theater, etc). If you're up at 2AM on a Tuesday you're probably studying, but if it's a Wednesday or the weekend you're probably partying. There is a great party scene for as small as the campus is and honestly its incredibly relaxed about alcohol. Campus police, as long as they know you are being safe, will often just make you poor out a cup of beer if they know you are underage and see you out with it, with no further reprimand. And if drinking isn't your thing you can still enjoy the fraternity/eating house(Our version of a sorority) dance parties or the amazing amount of events they have in the Student Union on weekend nights.

Social life is well organized with a variety of activities despite the size of the school. There are always "court" parties (frat/eating house) going on during the weekend and certain weekdays. Also, there are a number of entertainment options including movies, plays, and other performances of various types that are popular among students. There are many restaurants and movie theatres away from campus for people who want something to do away from campus.

I feel like social life at Davidson differs from other colleges. There is a party scene available but its not dominating on campus. People respect students' choices on the weekends and during the week and there is not a huge pressure to party if you don't want to, yet it is there if wanted. Fraternities and eating houses are popular for students yet like I said, not a dominating factor. Many complain about the expense of eating houses and frats yet they provide a good sense of camaraderie and are a good way to meet other people. The dating scene is interesting. It seems like there are two extremes for dating... Either extremely serious relationships or random hookups. There is not much in between which I found surprising coming here.

Social life at Davidson is limited besides Patterson Court. If you like to party, you'll be fine. If you don't like to party, good luck having fun on the weekends. Occasionally there are activites in the Union to accomodate the non-partying crowd, but they are decently rare. Mostly, you'll have to find things to do with your hall. If someone has a car on your hall, that will help. Some choose to join frats, but there's no pressure to join. There are no sororities, only eating houses, the some girls participate in. If you're not partying on Saturday night, you'll probably play some game with your hall, watch a movie, or stay in your room. Social life here, unless you like to party, is bland.