Denison University Top Questions

Dating happens, but it's difficult because campus is very small and there are not a lot of places to go on dates. Also, rumors travel fast. I would highly recommend that first-years go on one of the orientation programs. I met my best friends there, which I hear is common. I would especially recommend the service orientation! It's so much fun, and it is a moving experience. Lots of students drink on Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday nights. (Sometimes more but these are the big party nights). This is probably because they are bored. Denison does try to bring in other things, such as movies, speakers, and concerts, but there's only so much that can be done. If you don't want a loud dorm, try North Quad, or Curtis or Huffman. The Greek houses were shut down for the actually frats and sororities at night, so parties are in upperclassmen dorms and in apartments (on campus).

Since Denison is primarily a residential campus, it's really easy to find a good network of friends. The most popular school activities are... well uh... sports, I guess. I don't really participate. Other than that, everyone just hangs out... most kids don't leave on the weekends, so there's always at least a few parties going on. To be honest, there's not a lot to do other than drink. The parties kind of suck, too... there are no off-campus houses and the fraternities/sororities are non-residential, so everyone always has to cram into a tiny dorm room and grind on each other. It's annoying. I much prefer the parties on larger campuses, or at least on campuses where not everyone lives in a dorm. It is good to be able to make friends so easily, though. Even though a lot of the people at Denison suck balls, it's not to hard to find at least some people you'll like.

All of the groups on campus have their fair share of devotees and none seem overly dominant. This might be because our traditional sports teams are not as strong as our non-traditional teams like swimming and diving. Events such as a recent Yo-Yo-Ma concert are very popular with the students. The dating scene in is okay, there aren't as many choices at a smaller school but there are a fair number of relationships and hook-ups. If you are awake at 2am on Tuesday you are probably doing work, or just hanging out in a friends room, if you are doing something really fun then you are on a trip to Steak and Shake. There are parties on Mondays and Wednesdays but they are tamer than on the weekends when people tend to throw down more. Fraternities and Sororities are just another aspect of social life on campus. On Saturday nights or any night if you don't want to drink Denison does a really good job of bringing fun activities to campus to entertain the students. Off campus there are some good malls in Columbus and people will go out to eat about once a week.

Denison has a lot going on for a small school in the middle of Ohio. SAC, the student activities committee, plays recent movies every Wednesday and Friday night and often gets comedians and bands to play on campus. Parties are also very prevalent - Mondays, Wednesdays, and weekends are the party nights as many students don't have classes on Tuesday or Thursday. Fraternities and sororities exist, yet they aren't the ones who usually throw parties. You can always find somewhere to go or something to do if you're interested.

Occasionally they have good/controversial speakers (like Anne Coulter and John Ashcroft). I did not live on campus so I am not all that up to date on campus life. However there are lots of parties on Wednesday nights because most people do not have class on Thursdays.

there are more than 100 clubs and groups to choose from, in addition to the sports teams. with all of these opportunities, there isn't really one that's most popular. my favorite group i'm involved in is NERD, neuroscience education and research at Denison. we host student lead discussions about modern topics in neuroscience, movie nights, alumni talks, and more. the smaller dorms have more people with their doors open, but it's less common in the big ones. speakers, theater, concerts, and the like are very well attended and are far more popular than athletic events. i met my closest friends from my first year dorm and the clubs i'm a member in. 2 on a Tuesday morning would see me in fellows, the computer lab. d-day, aestavelia, and culture jam are the big concerts that happen every year. monday, wednesday, and of course friday and saturday are the biggest party days, but most people only do it on the weekends. greek life is present, but not the only way to do fun things on campus. comedy shows, concerts, lectures, and more are always fun options to do alcohol-free. there are also plenty of people who stay in doing fun activities like playing games, watching movies, and the like. student activities provides shuttles and reduced price tickets to a lot of events in Columbus, like plays and baseball games. there are also movie theaters, malls, and other traditional activities.

Denison is definitely a party school and that annoys me a lot. I'm not much of a drinker, so there isn't a lot for people like me to do on the weekends. The dating scene is bullshit. There seem to be a few very close couples on campus, but no ones seems to know how they have that relationship. I have never found in my 4 years here someone that I would like to have a relationship with. The boys seem to only be interested in hooking up. If I'm awake at 2 am on a weekday I'm likely finishing up a homework assignment, procrastinating a homework assignment, or watching TV with my roommates. I would say that fraternities and sororities are important, but more so for the people that are in them. There isn't much to do here socially that doesn't involve drinking. To go off campus to do stuff, you have to go to Easton which is a 30 minute drive. It's not that bad, but I'm jealous of students who go to OSU and have the city at their fingertips.