Haverford College Top Questions

There is a ridiculous number of clubs at Haverford. Haverford has clubs for affinity groups (religious organizations, political networks, ethnic groups, women's groups, the Sexuality and Gender Alliance, etc), sports, dance, improve theatre, and music. There are so many options that you probably won't have time to do everything you want, but it's nice to know it's there. For example, if you want to try singing a cappella, you can join one of the eight groups on campus. Think about it. There are only 1,200 students on campus and still there are eight a cappella groups. Nearly 10{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} of Haverford sings a cappella! Crazy! In terms of sports, leave your football helmet at home. We've been undefeated (i.e. without football) since 1972. Baseball, basketball, cross country, cricket (the only collegiate varsity team in the U.S., by the way), fencing, lacrosse, softball, soccer, squash, tennis, track and field, and volleyball are the varsity sports. Club sports include crew, golf, rugby, and ultimate frisbee. On the weekends there are parties as well as other, non-alcoholic events. Fords Against Boredom (FAB) is a group that works hard to organize events like trips to see plays in Philly, quizzo, and campus-wide games like a photo scavenger hunt and water tag (otherwise known as "Assasin"). There's a dance about once a month, as well as some kind of musical performance every weekend. Late night food is available at the Coop or Lunt Basement. There is also a 24 hour Wawa within walking distance. There are no fraternities or sororities. The dating scene is also notoriously lacking, probably because there are so few people. I know Fords in relationships, but it is not as common as at other colleges and universities. Philadelphia is a short SEPTA (regional railway) ride away, so there are always things to do there. Common attractions include the Philadelphia Museum of Art, South Street, and various cheesesteak places.

Always guest speakers. Always events to go to. Dances and parties and concerts on the weekend. Can have a good time without drinking, depends on your circle of friends. But most people do drink . Go into philly for art/music culture.

If you were voted most popular in your high school class, well then, Haverford might not be the right school for you. On the other hand, if you were voted most athletic, then Haverford might be of interest. Mostly all Haverford students play some sort of sport whether it be varsity or intramural or club. The basketball games probably bring around the most fans, but is not Haverford's strong sport. The cross country and track teams are the star athletic teams consistently bring home conference championships. Men's lacrosse is an up and coming team making the national tournament this year. Bringing in a strong freshman class, it should be really impressive to see what they can do in the next few years. The lacrosse team and baseball team have a

Haverford has no frat life, so the varsity baseball and lacrosse teams take the place of those- providing big keggers and parties for the community. For people that don't like big keggers, there are always concerts and performances every weekend. Bands come to campus, improv groups perform, a cappella groups sing-- there's a whole array of performances to attend. Theatre is growing. The year I started at Haverford ('04), Haverford students created the first student-run theatre program, since the only theatre program fully-established, was at Bryn Mawr. (Of course that's another important thing to mention: Bryn Mawr, the all-women's school right near Haverford, is a great resource for theatre, and other classes not offered at Haverford, as well as good food. For the women of the LGBT community, too, Bryn Mawr provides a lively gay scene, with lots of out women.) At Haverford there are musicals and plays going on-- one-acts are popular, but it's also an option for Haverfordians to audition for Bryn Mawr's plays, since they have a strong theatre dept. over there. In general, as hard as students like to work, they also like to party. As soon as it's the weekend, most of campus is out and about, attending events, and partying. There are people who don't drink, but most people who go to parties drink. However, there are always those other fun events that I mentioned that people can go to if they don't like going to parties. Also, a lot of people head to Philly to go out to dinner, or go to museums, or just walk around and get off campus, so that's always an option, too. Playing on the women's frisbee team was awesome, because not only did I have a fun way to exercise (five times a week, for 2 hours a day), but I had a great group of people to hang out with. The team was filled with openminded, motivated, supportive women, and I had a wonderful time playing on the field with them, as well as partying with them on the weekend. Every spring, too, we traveled to South Carolina and played frisbee for the week, staying in a huge house, with the men's team. Because the team was a super supportive, socially active, comforting environment, I felt really comfortable and able to be fully myself. Finding that community helped me a lot in my time at Haverford.

Lots of different types of people. Avant guard people can see cool bands on weekends. Those who want to save the planet have CPGC. Athletes have friends on their teams and of course, parties.

A capella is huge at Haverford. Haverford has the most a capella groups per capita of any college. With barely 1100 students, we have twelve a-capella groups (counting bi-co groups, which are a-capella groups that both Haverford and Bryn Mawr students are part of). So about 1 in 9 Haverford students is in an a capella group, and it gets a little ridiculous sometimes. Since most a capella groups do skits and parodies in addition to singing, you get a lot of a capella groups parodying other a capella groups. One less-established group drew big crowds by titling its show "Not Another A Capella Show" and having each of its members dress up as singers from different a capella groups. And I have to admit, I really enjoyed the performance. Apart from a capella, Haverford students do a lot of other stuff.

Athletic events are not very well attended. A cappella concerts are very popular, as are band performances and improv comedy shows. The social life is entirely repetitive. Most people find their niches and then do mostly the same thing weekend to weekend. Most of my friends are through my extracurriculars (singing, theater), but some I met through other friends and get to know better at parties on the weekends.

Weekends at Haverford can take different styles. There are always parties to attend but people are often just as content watching a movie with friends or hanging at one of the on-campus eateries. Either way, no one judges and people generally just accept that no one activity is or is not right for everyone.

Because it is a small campus and most people are very focused on academics, there is not much of a party scene except on the weekends. And on the weekends, again because of Haverford's small size, there are only a few large parties. Most of the people on campus who enjoy parties will be at one of these parties. It is nice because you can see most of your friends at one party, but the limitations of the parties can get boring. Especially into sophomore year, it seems that the weekends are all similar. Dances at Founders Hall are very popular and fun. Much of the school is in attendance at these dances.

Haverford has way too many A Capella groups. There are three Co-ed ones, two all-male, and two all-female. In each category, only one group is really any good, so I just wish we slimmed it from 7 to 3 groups. Our literary magazine is a pretentious joke - the people who help organize it, myself included, are more concerned with ripping writers a new one than actually puttnig together a readable, entertaining magazine. And for the most part, if you don't shop, party, or sing, extracurriculars are obsolete.