Hi all - question about frats/ social life at Denison. I have a son who loves sports but will only be playing at intramural level. Additionally, he is initially quite shy and takes him a while to get comfortable with people - not sure if Greek system will be his thing or not. I am wondering what the social scene at Denison is like for guys who are sporty but not college athletes and who also are not in Greek system. Also wondering how “exclusive” is Greek system entry if you do want to participate?
My S24 is a Denison first year and is not in a frat. There are lots of boys who like to work out, play basketball and that sort of thing who aren’t in Greek life. There are also a bunch of boys who like to work out who are in a fraternity.
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Thanks so much for the feedback I appreciate it! How is your son liking Denison so far?
He really likes it. His roommate is from Japan and they get along fine - even with some language barrier. He is in STEM courses and has met some very nice boys. He is very easy going and has enjoyed his classmates and professors. We hope that he will get more involved in campus activities but he had an insane first semester courseload - 3 STEM courses with two long labs plus the rest. He truly would collapse on Friday afternoon. This semester is much better, live and learn.
HIs classes are all small - no more than 20 or so in each class, so very similar to high school.
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Thanks so much - glad to hear your son likes it!
Both @tkoparent’s son and my son had similar experiences at Denison – they were Varsity athletes, not in Greek life, with a wide variety of friends. Greek life was irrelevant to my kid’s experience, as his closest friends from his team were also not in greek life, and their friend group was more musicians, performers, student government etc. kids. For what it’s worth, my son looked forward to playing intramural basketball each winter with friends who were not playing varsity sports.
What we all appreciated about Denison was that the student experience was not “siloed” – students were involved across a range of activities. My son was involved in studio art as well as his sport, had a campus job, was a peer advisor, and was involved in the entrepreneurship lab. His friend group cut across all those activities. I can’t say enough good things about his experience at Denison!
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As @Midwestmomofboys says, students at Denison tend not to associate with just one single group. S19 was a varsity athlete, non-Greek, but his close friends and roommates at Denison included students who were in fraternities and sororities, non-athletes, intramural athletes, etc. He’s not a shy guy, but he grew up overseas and Denison was his first experience living in the US. He was made to feel comfortable there from Day 1, and I recall being impressed with how his professors affirmatively reached out to him with opportunities they thought might interest him. With regard to Greek life, I think it helps that the fraternities at Denison do not live in separate housing, the members are mixed in with everyone else in the dorms. Denison also tries to give the first-years a chance to get oriented before they have to start thinking about whether to join a fraternity or sorority, so rushing takes place in the spring.
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Thank you so much I appreciate your feedback!
Thanks so much - this is all very helpful!
I’m curious about Christian community at a Denison. Anyone know about the religious organizations and participation by students? Thanks!
One thing we noticed right away is at the foot of the hill in town are four churches on all corners - so very easy access to at least four denominations.
Also, this year Denison started providing a Catholic mass every Sunday at 4 p.m. in Swassey Chapel so that is very convenient.
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Great, thanks! That’s good to know. I’ll check it out. DD got in yesterday!
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