<p>I suspect that most of the people (and parents) who flatly maintain that Greek life dominates social life at Vanderbilt are limited to those for whom Greek life actually does dominate their social lives (or their parents), somewhere around (or slightly less) than half of the student population. There are nevertheless many happy Vandy students for whom Greek life is a small or even non-existent part of their social lives. So while Greek life thrives at Vandy, diverse other (less formally organized and loud) forms of social life do thrive quite happily alongside it. Just depends who you ask, and whether they view life at Vandy through Greek lenses.</p>