Case Western Reserve University Top Questions

Greek Life is big on campus. My best decision I have made thus far in college is joining a Sorority. Not only do you become closer to the girls in your own chapter, but you gain a sense of belonging in a campus community. Greek life consists of almost over 30{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} of the whole campus. If you are not involved in greek life, there are other opportunities going on. There are plays, recitals, Thwing Tuesdays, RHA events and other student group events constantly going on. It is what you make of it.

I'm the editor of The Athenian, a humor magazine on campus. It gives people a place to just write satirical, goofy, outlandish things about Case or the outside world. Even if we don't get a lot of submissions, our readership is strong - we're the second most popular publication on campus, only falling behind the weekly newspaper.

If you want to have a social life, you can. I am the President of Dhamakepella, the South East Asian fusion a capella group, and we meet twice a week to rehearse, in addition to performing at different events around campus. Meeting people is easiest during freshman year, and I made all my closest friends then. Greek life is a huge part of the Case campus, so 1 in 3 students who come here will go greek.

I'm involved with the Case Footlighters, Case's completely student-run musical theater group. Also I'm a Civil Engineering major, I feel more close and at-home with this student group than any other group on campus, including the Case chapter of the American Society of Civil Engineers. The Footlighters actually doesn't have any Theater majors in it....we're composed of people who have chosen to do something else for their career but have still retained their love of musical theater. This semester we put on Chicago and sold out all of our performances. I played Amos Hart, also known as Mr. Cellophane. It was a great experience and best of all, one of my Civil Engineering professors was in attendance.

One of the most common buzzwords that can be found on this campus is the "Case Community." I have lived on this campus for four years. There is nothing terribly communal about this community. Many of the large social groups on campus want nothing to do with each other, unless there is a personal connection of some kind. We divide up in our freshman year into our socio-econo-ethnic group and have nothing to do with each other for the next three years. The doors in our residence halls lock automatically. Passcards are required to go anywhere. Finding quiet study space is nearly impossible, and there is always some reason for someone to kick you out of where you are.

Though the campus is a bit isolated by a surrounding bad neighborhood and lack of functional public transportation, the prevalence of bars and restaurants certainly helps the atmosphere. Being willing to venture into other parts of Cleveland, which has numerous wonderful areas for day- and night-life is essential, but, sadly, many students don't seem to have realized this.

They have them ... I was in a sorority, hated it, no longer affiliated. I thought that I needed some extra social life to make me feel more connected to Case's "social world" but after being in the sorority, I realized that maybe it wasn't the way I wanted to meet new people. I'm not about competing for people to like me enough to "pick" me to be in THEIR sorority! It's just a beauty contest how you look is what sorority wants you!

You have to look for it, but there are always things to do. Most weekends you go out, but there is always a week that you just have to stay in and work. Greek like is pretty strong here, but you don't have to be a part of it to have fun. There are parties on and off campus that are easy to get to. There are tons of great clubs as well. The theater groups puts on plays every other month and there is a free student improve show every weekend. Case brings in a wide range of speakers.

Greek life is very popular. The football team did darn well this year, but we all know that the ultimate frisbee team, The Fighting Gobies, is the true show in town. As I just said, I am a Fighting Goby/ie, so yeah. Students in Raymond, my dorm, do leave their doors open. It's great. The dating scene is bizarre. The times when dating seems the best is the times when classes body slam you, leading to many failed attempts and confusion. People party highly infrequently, which I am very cool with. Fraternies/sororities are probably the most important groups on this campus. If I'm awake at 2am on a Tuesday, I'm either doing work, on a Facebook discussion group talking about religion or gun control, playing Brawl at my fraternity, or going on a Thought Walk. Can't forget the Thought Walk.

Greek Life is a very important part of campus. Over 30{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} of campus is Greek and our Greek organizations win prizes all over the world. For something like the past 5 years our Panhellenic Council and Interfraternity Congress have received top awards in our district for our Greek system. Greeks at Case perform over 365 days worth of service and service-related activities each year. I met my closest friends in the Greek Life system-- and not all in my sorority. The chapters aren't nearly as competitive with each other as they could be and there is an air of unity in everything we do. Athletic events are growing popularity. Our football team actually won our district title this year and went to playoffs. People used to be surprised we even had one. Our mens and womens swimming and diving teams are nationally recognized as are our track and field and cross-country teams. We have amazing athletes here and all of them are also excelling in the class-room. Each year, the campus holds Springfest, Greek Carnival, Hudson Relays (a 26 mile relay race around campus competing between class years), Greek Week, Homecoming, Alumni Weekend, Snow Ball, and a ton of other smaller traditions. This year we have also brought Relay for Life to Campus and it is a smashing success.