Grinnell College Top Questions

Partying. Hahah. A little of everything happens of campus. There are the students who party on Wednesday nights, those who only party on the weekends, and those choose to remain sub-free. But whatever you choose is fine. If someone wants to remain sub-free, there's no pressure otherwise. And although some students choose to party on the weekdays, they still keep their grades up. Since there are no sororities or fraternities all students know and can attend all parties. The biggest parties on campus are Fetish (dress up in wipped cream or whatever you desire), Disco (grab some polyestor), 10/10 (a traveling party that happens on oct 10), and Block Party ( starts right when finals end in May). Being one who didn't not party in high school, I was shocked by the amount of partying on campus. And if I had prospied, it probably would have scared me away, which is a shame because I love Grinnell! So don't let partying scare you away!

We are very good at finding our own fun and finding joy and beauty in seemingly simple things. The lounges are really nice. There are events every weekend. We have our own "club"; the Harris center features parties each weekend. It is very easy to obtain alcohol on campus and the school features a self-governance policy, the students are trusted. There are annual parties that everyone loves. There are lots of clubs and groups and it is very easy to make your own. It is pretty easy to get to Des Moines and Iowa City (the latter is really fun).

Some popular groups include: a cappella choirs (men, women, and mixed), theatre (independent and school-produced), basketball and other sports, among many, many others. Life on campus is very trusting - most students leave their doors open and your hall community is typically very tight. There is no greek life on campus, but there are various sports and themed houses near campus.

Work hard, party hard. The party scene is all on campus, very few people go out to the town bars. The parties are heavily rooted in tradition, which makes them very fun. We have a lot of great theme parties, for which we don ridiculous apparel almost every weekend. There are no fraternities/sororities, so most of the parties take place in dorms or our dancehall or pub. I am very glad there are no fraternities or sororities. In terms of house parties, they typically are thrown by sports teams. 5 or so members of a team will get a house and throw large non-exclusive parties. The dating scene can almost be incestual. The school is so small that, soon enough, people are stepping on a good friends toes because there are only so many "good catches." The school brings in at least 3 great speakers every week (and some bad ones). We get usually 5 very good concerts a year, and a number of others. Whenever I get around to going to the events offered around Grinnell, I am always pleasantly surprised. I hardly go off campus.

Ultimate frisbee is huge -- it's not a varsity sport, but I'd say it's more popular than most of Grinnell's varsity sports. We're awash in activist groups: international human rights, environmental, political, LGBT, etc. You name it, we've probably got it. Grinnell is one of those "work hard, play hard" schools. There's a lot of partying, ranging from the usual -- like beer pong -- to the Grinnell-specific, like Harris parties. The Harris center has a large room that usually serves as performance/special events space, and almost every Friday and Saturday night this room holds a Harris party, most of which are themed and/or costumed. They're open to all students, are free, and are really popular. They consist mostly of dancing and drinking. Some Harris party themes have become annual tradition -- every year there's Disco (the biggest and most popular of all Harris parties), Underwear Ball, Fetish, Halloween, and '80s night, to name a few. We don't have fraternities/sororities, and that's important. Most people I know came to Grinnell partially because of the absence of a Greek system. We try to do away with all forms of exclusivity and elitism at Grinnell (not that we always succeed). We don't get off campus very often, and this has lead to the phrase "the Grinnell bubble." We're a very tight-knit community, which I love, but we do become somewhat cut off from the surrounding world. Going home can be a bit of a shock.

I'm involved with the xcountry team, a tightly knit group of people who party/eat and run together. For the most part student leave their dorms open, except on east campus where the doors don't naturally stay open. The school really tries hard to bring a lot of speakers, perforance groups to campus whihc is cool. We have a speaker every thursday. There isa big split in the student body between kids who drink and who don't drink. Personally I party on the weekends, but I've heard that there are limited things to do for people who choose not to. However, I've not heard of people feeling pressured to drink, its just a personal choice that is respected by other students.

Oddly, one of the bigger groups on campus is Dag, a recreational medieval fighting group--foam-sword fighting! It's got about 40 members and is tons of fun. Belly dance is also a huge group, as are some of the independent theatre clubs. Most religious traditions will have at least one club, and there are also many social-activism groups of all descriptors. This is partly because it's very easy to make a group at Grinnell--you just need two people interested, and you go sign up. In general, people are very open; doors aren't usually locked and are most often wide open. There are all-campus parties every weekend, with several major events, including the Winter/Spring Waltzes, a fancy-dress party with live music and cheesecake! Alcohol is available at events, although funded by students; but there is never any pressure to drink, and not drinking will not exclude you from social circles. In keeping with this "openness", Grinnell has no Greek life, although there are several "project houses" at the edges of campus, open for student groups to live in each year. Also, for those interested, I think it's something like 65{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} of Grinnellians marry other Grinnellians--we just get along that well!

There is a group/activity/club at Grinnell for everyone. Tons of people are involved in intramural sports or social activist groups. The most popular (and most respected) sports are basketball, track, cross country, swimming, and soccer. Frisbee is insanely popular. But, I wouldn't say athletic events are all that popular over all. Lots of people graduate without having ever seen a single game. I'm involved in theater, and the great thing about it is that you don't have to be a major to be cast in Grinnell productions because a lot of them are student-run. Also, theater attracts all sorts of people--athletes, singers, political activists--you really aren't defined by one activity. The dorms are very close-knit communities. Student almost always leave their doors open, and floor/dorm parties are frequent and fun! People often study in the hallway, and it's rare to find a person who spends a ton of time in their dorm room. Because Grinnell is a wet campus, it's common to see alcohol in the dorms. On a typical Friday night, you'll probably see a beer pong game underway in a dorm hallway, and a party in a dorm lounge. There isn't much of a dating scene at Grinnell. People don't really "go on dates." It seems like people are either casually hooking up or in a committed relationship. But there are lots of opportunites to meet people. Grinnell is really unique because is tends to party as a community. For example, there are several parties (10/10, Waltz) that are progressive in which different dorms host different parts of the party. On nights like 10/10 (the weekend after the first campus job paycheck), you can literally see almost the entire campus travel from one dorm to another. Each weekend there's a college sponsored party in a big multi-purpose building called Harris. There's free beer and lots of dancing. The party has a different theme each time, and the most popular ones are Disco, Fetish (dress up as a fetish), and Halloween. Basically these parties are an excuse to show some skin and drink. Students at Grinnell don't go off-campus much because there's so much to do on campus--there's a free movie theater, parties, guest speakers, free athletic events, free theater and music performances, free concerts--really anything you'd want. There aren't many bars in town, so most people drink on campus. There's even a pub on campus. I met my closest friends in my dorm freshman year and in my classes. The dorms aren't separated by year, so a lot of my best friends aren't the same age as me. If you're awake at 2am on a Tuesday, you are most definitely studying. There are no fraternities or sororities at Grinnell. In fact, that whole college lifestyle is pretty looked down upon, and there isn't really even anything at Grinnell that compares to it. Drinking is really common, but there is lots to do that doesn't involve drinking. People will often cook in the dorm kitchens, watch a movie, go to a concert, or just hang out. Actually, lots of people who don't drink still go to parties and have a good time because you aren't really looked down upon if you don't drink.

The people at Grinnell are really down-to-earth, and completely friendly.

If you like to get drunk, then we provide! If you don't like to drink your days and nights away, we do have other activities. The cool thing about Grinnell is how easy it is to start a club, and procure funding. Find a friend, and you have a club. 2 semesters ago, we formed a kite club with 3 people, ended up with $800 funding by filling out a page of forms. That's how easy it is. The ease of finding funds also allow a lot of clubs to bring high profile speakers over all the time, as well as concerts and stuff.