Stony Brook University Top Questions

Greek organizations and miscellaneous clubs and sports are popular

There are So many student activity groups it is hard to say which are the most popular. Personally, I am involved with Oxfam, the Culinary Club, SBU-TNG club, the SB cat network, and the Commuter Student Committee. This, along with the myriad of student activities keeps me both busy and well fed. (Most organizations and activities give away free food). Most of my closest friend I've met through these activities and through just being around on campus. 2am on a Tuesday? I'm probably hanging out at the TAC or grabbing a bit to eat at Kelly Cafe. Traditions include The Great Roth Regatta - Teams of people construct creative boats out of duct tape and cardboard and race them across a pond located on school grounds. Hundreds of people show up to participate and cheer the contestants on while they enjoy free food, treats, and paraphernalia. It is perhaps my favorite tradition. Other Annual events include Strawberry-fest, Rubber-Duck racing, Earth Fest, multiple ice-cream socials and a whole lot more that I cannot remember off the top of my head. Greek Life is somewhat big, but not something I ever became a part of. They often host parties and campus events that are usually very large, but level of involvement is very optional. Honestly, Saturday nights are pretty dead. Almost everyone goes home for the weekend, which is a shame, because wander campus with your friend on the weekend is very fun and is the basis of many of my fondest memories of Stony Brook. New York City is just a short train ride away so it is easy to make your way to the city for an adventure anytime-if you have enough money to afford a ticket, that is. Other off-campus activities include mall runs, adventure in the nice little waterfront town of Port Jefferson, and playing at the beach.

The community service club is incredibly popular. They have many events, and an enormous amount of members. In addition to this, our school has something called Humans v. Zombies. This is a club/game that includes anyone who wants to play. There are more than a thousand students who engage in this activity every year.

I am heavily involved in the National Society of Collegiate Scholars (NSCS for short). We are a community service based honor society that sends out invitations to freshmen or sophomores that have achieved a GPA above 3.4. NSCS is very active on campus and recognized nationally – for the past two years our Stony Brook chapter has been recognized as one of the strongest chapters in the nation. Although there is a nominal fee to join, as a member you receive discounts to many of our affiliate companies and are eligible for thousands of dollars in scholarship money. We hold a few signature events each semester that are open to the campus community. One of my personal favorites is Autumn Ecstasy, a charity ball we hold each November. Like all universites, Stony Brook has many traditions. One of my favorite Stony Brook traditions is EARTHSTOCK, a celebration of Earth Day. During this event the academic mall is always full of student organizations and local organizations that support the environment. Last year I bought this cute box of note cards. However, they weren’t just ordinary note cards they were eco-friendly paper made up of 50{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} elephant dung! I am really looking forward to walking around all the tables in the Spring semester. In addition, every year around 2PM we have our famous rubber duck races. In the weeks prior to Earthstock everyone can adopt a duck for $1 at the Dean of Students Office. Everyone who adopts duck gets an official adoption certificate which entitles you to love and provide for your rubber ducky. The ducks are released from the top of “stony brook”, the waterfall that runs from administration down to the Wang Center. Honestly, the image of 500+ red ducks racing down “stony brook” is one of my favorite annual memories and makes me to happy. Later in the Spring semester, the entire Stony Brook community celebrates Strawberry Fest , which is a festival that honors Long Island’s seasonal fruit, strawberries. Local vendors set up various stations that have foods that all have some strawberry component. Some of the items from last year include grilled chicken with quinoa and strawberry salsa, strawberry fields’ salad and strawberry strudel! Tickets are available for purchase at any of the campus dining facilities for only $8.45 and can be purchased using meal points. My absolute favorite Stony Brook tradition is Roth Regatta, a boat race across Roth Pond. The trick is the boat can only be made with the following materials cardboard, duct tape, rope, paint, wax and Elmer’s glue. People fall into pond, boats crash, its madness! But entirely awesome at the same time.

The most popular groups are ethnic based groups. There are also a lot of charity groups like the red cross and other smaller ones. In my building many people leave their doors open. Athletic events are semi popular. Around Homecoming everyone gets excited for the game. There are lots of things going on--parties, events, speakers/lectures. Frats and sororities are kind of important but I'd rather ignore them. There are some things to do off campus as well such as go to the movies or the mall.

Dances, concerts, community service... everything is available

For every interest that someone can have, there is a group to join, but if you want to start your own new group you need at least five people who are interested in starting it with you. But that shouldn't be too hard. Becoming active on campus was one of the most important things to me when I got to Stony Brook. Many of my peers just stayed in their rooms all day playing video games and I knew I just didn't want to be that kind of person. I wanted to be the kind of person who tried out many different activities in order to find my niche(s). I am passionate about a lot of different organizations on campus. I am on E-Board for the ballroom dance team as their treasurer. I came to Stony Brook knowing they had a ballroom dance team and I knew I wanted to be a part of it. At orientation, the orientation leaders know the people to talk to about joining any organization you want to, just let them know what you're interested in and they will surely point you in the right direction.That's takes up a lot of my time but that doesn't mean there isn't time for other organizations. I am a member of Students Empowered Against Sexual Assault (SEASA) which works to educate students on what sexual assault is and how to prevent it on our campus. I am also a member of the undergraduate literary magazine, Spoke the Thunder, where I help vote written and artistic pieces in to the magazine and work on the production staff to layout the magazine. As a journalism major, I knew it would be important to join a publication on campus. I decided to join the Statesman because they are the oldest on campus publication with a good reputation. Stony Brook pride at sports games is so intense. I love going to basketball and football games because everyone wears red and students get to sit in the red zone where they chant for the whole game. If you come to Stony Brook with no pride, go to a sports game and that should get you pumped about our school. There is always some kind of lecture going on at night usually with some knowledgeable speaker. Or there are activities run by organizations happening all the time, usually at night and on weekends and often have free food, which is a major bonus but usually the food disappears quickly. Since the weekends tend to get boring, I decided to get an off campus job, which sets me up with hours on the weekends and Fridays when I don't have class. I recommend getting a job either on campus or off campus, if you have a car, but don't overwhelm yourself. I waited until sophomore year to get a job, and now I can't imagine life here without one.

On campus there are 100's of clubs and more every year. If its not there already, you can start it yourself. Most first year students choose to join their Hall Councils because its a great way to get involved and to meet other people in your building. My favorite group that I'm a part of is RHA. Its a group of reps from every building on campus who get together and try to make decisions for the entire campus. We plan events and work on safety issues. On campus there are sporting events almost every week, and SB has an incredible sense of school pride. We also bring in a lot of Theater groups, dancers and choirs into the Staller Center as well as the Theater Departments programs. I met most of my closest friends by hanging out at the Tabler Arts Center. We all met during Orientation the first week and chose to stick together. SB is really great about putting on programs for students. Every year we have a Homecoming parade, Halloween celebrations, the Roth Regatta and spirit week. All of these events involve the whole campus, but there are also programs put on by Quads and even the programs put on by the RA staffs of the buildings. In regards to the buildings, we do not leave or rooms unlocked. There is always that small chance of theft occurring even between friends so we have an anti-propped doors campus. Partying occurs of course, but its not a loud, messy everyday thing. The SB students are really responsible about the way they spend their time.

If you belong to a group, sports team, fraternity/sorority, etc, those people will become your friends because you'll spend so much time with them. Those are also the most popular, and chances are it's how you'll meet your friends. It's really difficult to meet others in any other way except those you live with, through a friend or a party. Parties are common, but not insanely huge. They tend to be more private and basically include only the people you know, not strangers unless it’s held by a frat. While walking outside, you may see the happenings of a party, but it's generally not crazy. Athletic events are popular....if it's not on a weekend. But there are a few every year that roads are closed down or we get traffic cops because so many people come by. The theater has some good stuff, especially if you're a classical music buff. But other good shows exist for cheap. If you stay for a weekend, you can go to the movies, go out to dinner, maybe go bowling somewhere...get ice cream....play minigolf....etc but only if you own a car or take a cab. Otherwise, you're only options are parties, studying, or video games. We do have a roth regatta, where different groups of people make their own boat, and then race it to the other side of the lake and pray it doesn't sink on the way. It's supposed to be fun. Overall, activities and social life are boring. Don't expect much and it will get dull quick.

I have just recently gotten involved in Greek life and I love it. I have met some of the most amazing people and I would not change a thing. There is always something to do and someone awake to do it with.