University of Richmond Top Questions

About 50{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} of our student body joins a sorority or fraternity.

I wish that social life with regard to on campus events was more prevelent. While a lot of people go to the homecoming Football game, generally sporting events are poorly attended. They are making an effort to try and change this by "luring" kids to games (through preyground points and free food as well as a lot of advertising) but I still feel like a we could have more school spirit. Same goes for guest speakers, etc... I wish that more people attended these things, however I don't always take advantage of them myself. Students generally leave doors open in my experience which makes it easier to just go and try and get to know your neighbors which is really important in meeting people at first. I personally don't think frats/sororities are incredibly important on campus because I know a lot of people who aren't in them. I am in a sorority which for me was very important because I have a harder time meeting people and it definitely just threw me in to a whole group to get to know. Also, sororities and fraternities put on a lot of events (not just lodge parties) that give me something else to do during the week.

Fraternities make up a big part of the social scene, with other greek organizations (sororities, FIJI, etc.) and clubs (A Cappella, club sports, etc.) making up the rest.

Sports takes a backseat at Richmond, although we do have a fairly talented basketball and football team. Most people (the girls at least) leave their doors open or unlocked in the dorms. It is also not uncommon to see people leave their things out in the library--books, papers, bookbags, phones, and laptop computers. Everybody is fairly trusting and stealing is not very prevelant--mainly because people have enough already, there's no need to steal anything from anyone else. On the weekdays, one can expect a small trickle of drunk people coming back to the dorms around 1 or 2 in the morning. This increases significantly come Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. So therefore, if you don't drink--prepare not to have a social life. 90{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} or more of girls rush for a sorority. You may be getting a biased view because I did not rush myself, but in all honesty sororities and fraternities rule the social scene. You are labeled by what you are: a delta gamma, kappa alpha theta, etc. Hierarchies in greek life definitely exist, and are well known.

Sororities and fraternities are a major part of the social scene at Richmond.

weekends at richmond start on thursday if you're normal, wednesday if you have a light class load, and tuesday if you're friends with the guys who host tuesday night pong. if you really want to party, you can do so any day of the week, but most people are active on the weekend nights. the most popular groups on campus are probably intervarsity, which is the interfaith group, and the greek social scene. i think it's something like 40{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} of the student body is involved in greek life. if you're not, it doesn't really cramp your style but you have to be aware that your friends who are are likely going to be dragged away to socials or parties most weekends. for those involved in greek life, you can be as involved as you want to be. i have friends who are chairpeople of every event, and others who show up to chapter and do the community service. on any given weekend night, there are a few things that are always open. the fraternity lodges, the dorms, and the apartments. usually there are a few things playing at the modlin center for the arts and while they get a lot of talented people, there are rarely many performers that students have heard of before. the lodges are basically dance clubs hosted by fraternities, and the apartments have huge parties. for people who don't drink, there are movies playing every weekend night in the tyler haynes commons, which is our student center, plus there are always people hanging out in the dorms. i usually spend one night of the weekend drinking and the other hanging out with friends. the best thing about the weekend is brunch. on saturdays and sundays, Dhall serves breakfast until three, and it is the best part of the week. in fact, dhall is just awesome. between the stir-fry, panini bar, and the crazy desserts, it almost never gets boring. and if you do get bored with dhall, there's always waffle house, the southern breakfast chain that is open 24 hours.

most popular groups: fraternities, sororities I was a DJ for WDCE, the radio station athletic events not real popular like they are at bigger state schools dating scene is heavily based on cliques pig roast happens every year, if you're into the party scene, it's a lot of fun people party almost every thursday, friday, saturday night fraternities, sororities VERY important, if you're not in one, you're not one of the cool kids, and they're kind of exclusive for getting into because they're all about who you know if you do stuff on a saturday night that doesn't involve drinking, chances are that you're by yourself

Richmond is a hard party school. Just about every weekend someone is taken to the hospital for alcoholic abuse. The campus cops don't really bust anyone but if u come to Richmond, expect your social life to revolve largely around drinking. Pot use was also very common in my freshman hall. Most people seem to enjoy the school social life, I am not one of them because I am in the minority who does not drink, and does not seem to get along well with others at this school in social conversation. If your quote on quote normal, Richmond is a good place for you. If your quote on quote, not normal, you may want to pick another school. A curious mind does not always thrive at Richmond, a completely intoxicated one does.

One thing that I like is that no matter what night of the week it is you can usually find some people to party with. I'm a work-hard-play-hard kind of person, so after a long day of class and hw I want to let loose a bit. It's not always exciting fun, but it beats going back to your room and watching TV and going to sleep. The best thing I've noticed about UR is once your friends have apartments or off-campus houses, the social scene is a lot more fun. Dorm parties get old after a year or so, but having larger spaces to socialize gives you a lot more options. The fraternity scene is pretty big at UR, but it doesn't matter if you are in one or not. A lot of my friends are in frat/srats, but I am not and I still have a lot of fun. It kinda sucks when they are pledging and then the following semester because they are all wanting to be really fratty right after they join, but that grows out of them and they are back to being your regular friends. It is a lot easier to meet girls if you are in a fraternity because they flock to their parties. Whether or not you are in a frat, the dating scene relies heavily on Greek life. I think all the girls I've been involved with were in sororities, but honestly I think they are a pretty big joke...although they have fun socials.

Social life is awesome. If you're a party boy/girl, you're set. If you dont like drinking, you're set. The school makes sure that everyone's happy and everyone has something to do. And contrary to popular belief, Greek life is not essential. However my sorority has enhanced my life in thousands of ways far far beyond the social/party aspect, and I wouldn't trade it for anything and would recommend it to everyone.