Emily
Since Eckerd is a small, private college in Florida there are numerous activities to do. There is a waterfront where you can go kayaking or paddle boarding for FREE! Also, campus activities hosts many parties and cool events to get people involved as well as allocating budgets to specific clubs for particular interests. So, if you are interested in doing a certain activity and find others that want to join, start a club and the school will basically pay for it! When it comes to partying, this definitely happens on the weekend. Lots of students drink and there is some drug use. However, you do not have to drink or smoke weed to fit in as there are a lot of people here that have fun without being under the influence.
Joe
Eckerd has an unbelievable number of clubs, from Ale tasting to kiteboarding, all of which are available for you to join. There is a Club Fair each semester where the heads of all the clubs set up booths/tables out front of the Pub where you can sign up for their email list, and get information on each of the clubs.
Overall from my experience the social life at Eckerd is a huge part of Eckerd itself. Kids usually don't just sit in their rooms with their roommates and watch TV. On a regular day you will see people hanging outside of the dorms at the picnic tables at any hour of the day or around the fire pits at night. There is usually kids playing frisbee on Kappa Field, or throwing a football or doing something active, others will simply be laying out on their towels either on the field or on the beach, enjoying the day or even doing some of their homework.
You will definitely meet some of your closest friends during Autumn Term, but don't let the upperclassman scare you when they come back, we're all pretty nice and I guarantee you will make friends with kids of all ages, from Freshman to Seniors.
If you're into partying, you can find a group of kids somewhere on campus each night that are having some sort of party, if not, just hang outside the dorms like everyone else and throw a couple back. The party scene is always the biggest at Kappa, they host several of the biggest parties each year, where half of the school will show up. Some of the biggest ones include the Toga Party, and Kappa Ball.
If you're not into the partying, there is also school sponsored events (which do sometimes have alcohol.) There is Open Mic nights at the pub, there are movies shown on campus, there are First Friday Fire Nights at the waterfront. The school also gives away free tickets to a select number of movies off campus, sporting events, and even concerts!
There is also the waterfront. At the water front you can sign up for Wakeboarding trips, Water Skiing trips, Fishing trips, rent a kayak for the day, rent a windsurfer, and there is even a sailing team. All of the trips and the rentals are FREE! The waterfront is also the place you can go to to rent out Tents, Coolers, sporting equipment, Pack your cooler with ice, and plenty of other things. The waterfront is definitely a cool place, especially since everything is free.