Campus life at Washington University in St. Louis

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For the student newspaper of Washington University in St. Louis, see Student Life (newspaper)

Contents

[edit] Student organizations

Washington University has over 200 registered undergraduate student organizations on campus. All are funded by WUSTL's student government, the Washington University Student Union, which has an approximately $2.5 million annual budget that is completely student controlled and is one of the largest student government budgets in the country. Known as SU for short, it sponsors large-scale campus programs including WILD (a semesterly concert in the quad), free copies of the New York Times, USA Today, and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch through The Collegiate Readership Program; the Assembly Series, a weekly lecture series; and the campus television station, WUTV and the radio station, KWUR. The Office of Student Activities provides advisors, leadership training, counseling, and other support to the student groups on campus.

The University is home to the largest collegiate Relay for Life in the country, raising over $300,000 last year in total donations.[1]. Additionally, there are over 50 community service groups on campus such as a Habitat for Humanity Campus Chapter. [2].

There are 12 national fraternities, 6 national sororities, and 8 national black Greek organizations on campus. 11 of the fraternities have houses on the Danforth Campus, while none of the sororities have houses by their own accord. Approximately 30% of Washington University students participate in Greek Life.[3] Greek Organizations are governed by the principles of Arete, which focuses on Integrity, Loyalty, Philanthropy, Responsibility, Friendship, and Intellectual Curiosity.[4]

[edit] Washington University Student Union

The Washington University Student Union is the undergraduate student government of Washington University in St. Louis. Founded in 1967, Student Union carries out three major activities: representing student interests; registering, funding, and supporting student groups; and planning campus-wide events. It is divided into three branches: the Executive, Legislative, and Judicial branches.[5] The Student Union Executive Branch comprises 5 elected individuals, who are the student body officials - the President, Vice President of Administration, Vice President of Finance, Vice President of Programming, and Vice President of Public Relations - who are charged with managing the and allocating the budget, being the point of contact with University administration, and leading and setting the direction for Student Union. The Legislative branch includes the Treasury and the Senate. The Treasury of the Student Union hears appeals for finances from various student groups. Approximately 225 student groups on campus are registered SU groups, utilizing a large portion of the over $2 million budget.[citation needed] Recent resolutions of the Senate include adding new capabilities to student ID cards, forming a GLBTQA task force, requiring all professors to distribute course syllabi and midterm grade progresses, and increasing the minimum wage of University workers. The SU Judicial Branch includes a Constitutional Council comprising a Chief Justice, four Associate Justices, and one Alternate. The Election Commissioners also fall under the Judicial Branch of Student Union. SU also publishes Bearings, the unofficial student handbook, and its supplemental website.[6]

[edit] Music

There is a large interest in A cappella music on campus, spawning groups such as After Dark, The Amateurs, More Fools Than Wise, The Mosaic Whispers, The Pikers, and The Stereotypes. A body known as ACAC (All A Cappella Auditions Council) oversees auditions for member groups each fall. Many of these groups are continually selected for national collegiate a cappella compilations, such as BOCA and Voices Only. The University also has a Department of Music that, in addition to providing concentrated study for music majors, also provides instrument and voice lessons to students. There are also a number of instrumental groups and ensembles in which students may participate. Other student organizations, such as Team 31 and The Gargoyle Committee, bring in popular national bands and lesser-known independent alternative performers.

[edit] Residential Life

The clocktower at the edge of the South 40.
The clocktower at the edge of the South 40.

75% of undergraduate students choose live on campus. Housing is guaranteed for a student for all four years if a student chooses. Most of the dormitories on campus are located on the South 40, named because of its adjacent location south of the Danforth Campus and its size of 40 acres. It is the location of all the freshman dorms as well as several upperclassman dorms. The majority of freshman dorms are comprised of double rooms; two double rooms share one connecting bathroom. Upperclass dorms are available in 4-person, 6-person, and 8-person suites and apartment-style units. All of the dorms are co-ed. In coming years, the University will be allowing upperclass students the option of mixed-gender housing, whereby any combination of males and females can live in the same suite if they so choose. The University is nearing the end of an era of replacing older residence halls with newer construction. In 2007, The Princeton Review rated Washington University in its top 20 list of schools whose dorms are "like palaces."[7]

The South 40 is organized as a pedestrian-friendly environment where residences surround a central recreational lawn known as the Swamp. Wohl Student Center, the Habif Health and Wellness Center (Student Health Services), the Residential Life Office, Cornerstone: The Center for Advanced Learning, University Police Headquarters, various student owned businesses (e.g. the laundry service, "Wash U Wash", and the baseball, softball, and intramural fields are also located on the South 40. Also in 2007, The Princeton Review rated the University as 4th on its rankings for Best Quality of Life for students.[8]

There are nearly 20 dining locations on the Washington University campus. In addition to a Subway restaurant, all locations are operated by the catering service Bon Appétit Management Company. The University is one of the few that offers an abundance of Kosher food items available at the majority of dining locations on campus. The dining facilities and quality of food are consistently ranked highly by The Princeton Review.[9]

[edit] Residential Colleges

Residences on the 40, as it is frequently abbreviated, are broken into small groups known as Residential Colleges. Residential Colleges typically have social events for their member houses and are administratively a single unit. Each College was originally supposed to consist of a freshman dormitory and an upperclassman dormitory paired together, but currently only five out of the nine include at least one freshman dormitory and at least one upperclassman dormitory. Each Residential College has an internally elected group of students charged with planning events and building community within the Residential College. The Congress of the South 40 oversees all the Residential College Councils, and plans a very popular Residential College Olympics each spring where each college competes in a variety of different events against other colleges.

Residential Colleges include:

  • Wayman Crow (Howard Nemerov and Nathan Dardick Houses)
  • Robert S. Brookings (Arnold J. Lien and Kate M. Gregg Houses)
  • William Greenleaf Eliot (WGE) (Elizabeth G. Danforth, Ethan A.H. Shepley, and Butron M. Wheeler Houses)
  • Park/Mudd (Helen Ette Park and Mudd Houses)
  • JKL (Thomas G. Rutledge, Carl A. Dauten, and Shanedling Houses)
  • HIGE (Herbert F. Hitzeman, Chester Myers, Frank E. Hurd, and Thomas H. Eliot Houses)
  • Lee/Beaumont (John F. Lee and Louis Beaumont Houses)
  • Ruby/Umrath (Helen F. Umrath and Maurie Rubelmann Houses)
  • Liggett/Koenig (John E. Liggett and Edwin C. Koenig Houses)

Each Residential College includes the following amenities:

  • Residential College Director
  • Faculty Families - A professor that has an apartment inside the Residential College
  • Faculty Fellows/Associates - Faculty members who are paired with freshman floors. They have dinner with their floors weekly, make occasional visits and participate in floor programming
  • Residential Advisers - Junior and Senior student leaders chosen through a highly selective process to serve as Peer Mentor, Advocate for Social Justice, Campus Partner, Programmer, Residential Life Team Member and Administrator. They complete hundreds of hours of training to learn how to serve their residents and maintain the integrity and cohesiveness of the community.
  • Residential Peer Mentors - Upperclassmen who serve as tutors for large freshman classes (Calculus, Chemistry, Writing, Physics, etc)
  • Residential Academic Peers - Upperclassmen who assists freshman with the social transition to college
  • Residential Peer Health Educators - Upperclassmen who are trained to answer questions about, and implement programs to educate freshman on the health transition in college
  • Residential Computer Consultants - Upperclassmen who are trained to fix common computer problems
  • Rooms - Freshman are typically housed in suites of two doubles joined by a bathroom while upperclassmen live in suites of four singles joined by a common area and 2 bathrooms
  • Computer Labs - Free printing, and PC and Macintosh computer stations
  • Wireless Internet access throughout the dorms, in addition to wired ethernet and cable television hookups in each room
  • Lounges - Each floor in the residential houses have common lounges with couches, tables, small kitchens and televisions
  • Kitchens - Each residential house contains a full kitchen

[edit] Wohl Center

The Wohl Center is the student center on the South 40. It contains two dining areas (Bears Den and Center Court), a grocery store (Bear Mart), a gift shop (Bear Necessities) and student mailboxes/postal services. The Wohl Center also houses Friedman Lounge, a student meeting space/piano room. In the Summer of 2008, Wohl will be demolished; in its place, a mixed-used facility consisting of dining locations, a small auditorium, fitness center, convenience store, lounges, storefronts for student-run businesses, and residences on the upper floors.[10] The new Wohl Center, along with the demolition and re-construction of four current freshman dorms, will be completed by the Fall 2011 semester. [11]

[edit] North Side

Another group of residences, known as the North Side, is located in the northwest corner of Danforth Campus. Only open to upperclassmen and January Scholars, the North Side consists of Millbrook Apartments, The Village, and all fraternity houses except the Zeta Beta Tau house, which is off campus and located just northwest of the South 40. Sororities at Washington University do not have houses by their own accord. The Village is a group of residences where students who have similar interests or academic goals apply as small groups of 4 to 24, known as BLOCs, to live together in clustered suites. Like the South 40, the residences around the Village also surround a recreational lawn as well as its own student center.

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[edit] References

  1. ^ http://www.acsevents.org/faf/home/default.asp?ievent=191541
  2. ^ WU Community Service Groups - Community Service Office
  3. ^ Greek Life
  4. ^ Our Community Values
  5. ^ SU aims to rearrange exec board - News
  6. ^ Directory of Student Groups
  7. ^ Register for The Princeton Review
  8. ^ Register for The Princeton Review
  9. ^ Register for The Princeton Review
  10. ^ http://mackeymitchell.com/project.php?id=105&cat=7
  11. ^ Washington University reveals plans for future of South 40 - News