Bennington College Top Questions

We're called a party school, but only if you're into that.

Really all I will tell you is bring your dress-up clothes because we do a lot of theme parties (I.E. sombreros, togas, cowboy boots, a red jump-suit- and if you don't already own these articles of clothing you can usually find them pretty cheap at the good-will in town).

You can be a hermit or a party girl or go between and be happy at Bennington. There is no expectation or silly image-up keep. Bennington is all about where you are at right at that moment.

I was in CAB, the Community Activities Board last term. I hosted Karaoke and Open Mic. We're a community that has inside jokes and people can get Bennington famous. You will know a lot of people by name and reputation before you ever get a chance to introduction yourselves. Really, we're all just kids looking to have a good time. There's definitely a bubble that makes you forget the context of your existence after awhile. My best friends lived in the same house as me. You get to be very close with the people in your house. Each house is almost like a fraternity/sororities kind of. There are not of a lot of things going on, and you are pretty sequestered in the wilderness. CAB brought in bands and other entertaining things as well as play movies. There's always a lot of Student work and people are always supportive of it. If you go to Bennington you will know ALL about modern dance and become kind of an connosieur. The dating scene is not existent. There's a lot of hooking up, a lot of drunken ramblings. I don't drink but my friends all do. A good time at Bennington is getting trashed and singing horrible pop/rap songs. There are house parties about every weekend where they hook up big speakers and crank "AWW SKEET MOTHERFUCKAAAH OH SKEET SKEET GOD DAMN!" so that the whole campus can feel it. Sometimes your fellow students will become your entertainment because of the entanglements they get themselves into. But really, the social scene is the same as the academic scene. Bennington, like life, is what you make of it. You can go follow the stream of partiers and get trashed, or like the first time I realized that my best friend was my best friend, you can spend a minute at the Bingham porch party and instead run away from your drunk friends and go watch the stars on the abandoned basketball court and run around causing various mischief.

At 2am on a Tuesday most Bennington students can be found working. Take a walk through VAPA at any time of night and you'll find students working in the printmaking studio, costume shop, any one of the theater/dance spaces. We're a work hard, play hard kind of campus. From Sunday to Wednesday everyone is working themselves to the bone. But Thursday to Saturday everyone lets of some steam. There isn't much to do off campus but we more than make up for it on campus. Every weekend there are a zillion different events to choose from, including concerts (past acts include: the River City Rebels, Architecture in Helsinki, the Spinto Band, Joanna Newsom, Thao Nyugen, Matt & Kim, ManMan, Xiu Xiu), plays (directed by students and faculty), art shows, readings, and lectures. We don't have fraternities/sororities but our dorms are a lot like frat houses. Our dorms are houses with kitchens and living rooms. Each house has its own personality and community. Almost no one locks their door and most people welcome visits from friends and housemates. We meet as a house every Sunday night for Coffee Hour where we discuss upcoming events, campus news, and house issues.

No real clubs, groups, or teams. People just hang out and do things that way. No one ever locks their door, you can enter any building at any time of the night/day. All campus events like concerts and theater performed by other students are VERY well attended. Everyone knows about your life: who you date, who you hang out with, everything. Traditional events : midnight breakfast, rollerama, bowlerama, midnight movies things like that hosted by CAB. There is the opportunity to party every weekend but who knows how many people religiously do every time. NO fraternities or sororities!!! But you might call the houses kind of make shift ones aka Canifeld army. You can always find something to do that doesn't involve drinking or drugs, dance parties, events, hanging out. Not much going on off campus.

I'm involved in the Environmental Initiatives Comity. We started the recycle program in Spring 2007 (my first term) and have been trying to compost on and off, get the campus garden up and running again (I did a lot of work on that) planning Earth Day...etc. I never locked my door. It was usually wide open. I have had a camera stolen from me. a cheap, broken camera...it was the memory stick I miss, it had photos from FWT in Guatemala that I hadn't put onto my computer yet. some guests speakers are well attended, but often not...the theater is far more popular...and put as a top priority over guest speakers most the time...even video showings are, I think. Some people date, some don't, many think that dating is for middle schoolers...I think that dating on Bennington campus can be a recipe for disaster. I wasn't expecting as much partying as there is...though we aren't a top party school or anything...just a lot more people getting drunk and doing stupid things then I had hoped for. Drink to get drunk is a college thing and Bennington has it. I go off campus to contra dance. I do my work at the coffee shop in town. I go on hikes. It is beautiful. There are more stars visible than I ever remember seeing. The bowling alley is a must. They have carpet on the floors and the walls, it glows in the dark.

Parties are very popular at Bennington. The most famous is the October First party (Formerly banned as the "dress to get raped" party, later vetoed as the "dress to get laid" party), which is themed entirely on the premise that it is unacceptable for upperclassmen (though what we mean by that is a trifle unclear) to bed freshmen until October first. Or whatever friday is closest to that date. When any of the lawn houses have parties, they are loud, long, hot, dark, nearly-naked, and very drunk. The themes are usually designed to give a new twist to getting drunk and dancing, though the efficacy of this approach is questionable. Other activities include dramatic, dance, and musical productions, visiting, local, and student bands, and numerous Outing-club trips. Drama productions are well attended, as are dance performances. The music department is somewhat more isolated.

There are not very many groups/clubs... although there are a few. As for teams, there are close to no sports. There is a coed soccer team, but that is it. All of the dorms are open and most people leave their doors open too. The living set up is great. Everyone lives in a house with about 20-30 people. There are common rooms in every house with great sofas and fireplaces which we light in the winter. It is fun to hang out and study in front of the fire when it is snowing in Vermont! There are dance parties almost every weekend and always people to just hang out with. There are no fraternities/sororities. There is lots to do if you don't drink. You can just hang out or go to one of the many shows that are always happening on campus. There really isn't much to do off campus. There is a sweet coffee shop that I study in.

It's rural. But that doesn't really matter since there's so much going on around campus. There's always a show, a concert, a gallery opening. screening, recital or something. There are dance parties too, every weekend. But if you're not into partying or theater, dance, music, and art, the place might be claustrophobic. Or you could just head over to the campus bar (assuming you're 21).