East Tennessee State University Top Questions

What are the most popular student activities/groups?

Maigen

Greek Life, for certain.

Sarah

Greek life is a big part of my life; as a small school there are fewer sororities and fraternities, but the smaller group creates a large competition rate. This environment helps with involvement on campus, for example supporting our athletic teams is a year-round activity that greeks attend. Another great activity to participate in on campus are the intramural teams! I absolutely love flag football, water polo, and a silly game we call Wally-ball. Wally-ball is inside a racquetball court with a volleyball in the center. The majority of the game is based on volleyball rules, but the ball is allowed to hit all four walls around the court. This might seem like an easy task, but I often find myself out of breath after the game is over! Over all there are many opportunities to get involved and stay in good health at ETSU!

sasan

As I am studying music, so our most activities is in music and going to museums and study about music history and practicing. We have also IBB that they always announce upcoming events to all students, like games, free lunch or dinner and so on.

David

There is a big Fraternity/Sorority community around ETSU, but I would not say it's the most popular organization at the university. I would have to say "The Well" is the most popular and biggest group on campus, not counting something like the SGA. The Well is a youth group with a building located off campus where ETSU students can come and relax, and obviously worship. It's a Christian organization, but they go out of their way to try and bring in all students. I have a friend who actually holds a special meeting for Chinese students and he translates whatever message they are having into Chinese for them. But ETSU is not limited to that. There is also an Agnostic Group that meets on campus, and one of my friends also is a member, and they meet quite regularly as well. There is a lot to do in Johnson City off campus, and not all of it involves drinking. There are of course your typical restaurants and pubs, but there are multiple coffee shops, theaters, shopping malls -- all the necessities a college town needs. It even has a public transportation system called "The BucShot" that travels around Johnson City with the Johnson City Transit -- and this bus system is free for ETSU students. You can wake up on a Saturday morning, hop on a bus, eat breakfast at a bagel shop downtown, get back onboard and travel to a bike shop or one of the many shopping centers. There is even a Kroger and Earth Fare located conveniently near the dormitories, allowing students without a car to just walk and pick up groceries, and come right back to campus. Johnson City has really evolved around ETSU to accommodate the students there, and likewise, a lot of businesses come to Johnson City because they know it is a college town.

Victoria

We have several sports organizations which I suppose are popular, but I've not gotten involved with that, so if you want to know more about that, I'm not your girl. I have, however, gotten into several other organizations including: FMLA, LGBTieS, Amnesty International, Philosophy Club, Animal Rights, ECO, and several others. The school is very good at supporting student clubs and activities and it is relatively easy to ask for money to host an event on or off campus. When I go off campus, I generally hang out with my friends at a sushi bar, coffee shop, or other restaurant. We occasionally go to the local gay club, which tends to be the most popular with students regardless of orientation. I met most of my friends through classes or organizations. I've made several life-long friends this way. For a non-drinking and cheap Saturday night, check out the local $5 movie theater.

Matthew

The most popular organization is fraternities and sororities. After those it mostly moves to groups such as RHA, SGA, Admission Ambassadors, President's Pride, and intramural teams.Athletic events can be popular if heavily promoted and aren't conflicting with holidays. We have many guest speakers in the Culp auditorium. If i'm awake on a Tuesday at 2am its to study for a test the next day. Last weekend i watched our sports teams play and win! A saturday night usually involves a date to the local movies, mall, or restaurant.

Keeley

ETSU offers over 200 student organizations on campus, and if we do not have an organization a student would like to be in, they can start it up themselves. There is always something to do on campus! ETSU is really great at offering things to do every day of the week, so there is always a chance to meet new people. Although Greek life isn't huge at ETSU, primarily because we are a dry campus without a football team, but being in a sorority is where I met my best friends. And these are the kind of friends I will have for the rest of my life. And if you do chose to do Greek life, it is a lot of fun! Greeks are involved in every aspect of campus life. As aforementioned, we do not have a football team, but we have a great basketball program! Our girls team recently won their conference 3 years in a row and the guys team made it to March Madness two years in a row while I've been at ETSU. So, we love our basketball team and the games are a lot of fun! Leadership organizations include SGA, RHA, Admissions Ambassadors, President's Pride, etc. Service organizations include Habitat for Humanity, Alternative Spring Break, etc. Campus ministries include The Well, CRU, Baptist Collegiate Ministries, etc. There are a lot of ways to get involved on campus and off! Fun activities include outdoor activities like hiking, kayaking, skiing/snowboarding, and we offer a lot of intramural sports. Johnson City is a medium sized town and pretty quiet, so there is not a lot to do off campus besides outdoor activities, but we are so close to places in North Carolina and Virginia and even places like Gatlinburg in Tennessee that students like to go on weekends.

Tyler

The most active organizations on campus include: Buctainment - a campus wide programming group providing cheap date movie nights (free movies), and other events such as Hypnotist Jim Wand, all for FREE! Residence Hall Association - an organization that every student who lives on campus is automatically a member of. RHA provides many different events, one being the Silent Disco. Its epic. Look it up!

Adam

There are currently over 200 student led groups on campus, and we are growing everyday!! Some of the more popular ones include, Student Government Association, Preview Orientation Leader Organization, Buctainment, Residence Hall Association, and many more. Our men's and women's soccer team is extremely popular. Our men's team won their conference tournament last season and are playing in the tournament again this year! I am heavily involved with our Student Government Association. I have served as a Junior Senator, a Senator, the Chief of Staff for the President on his Cabinet, and now serving as the Secretary of External Affairs for the President on his Cabinet. My job is do plan, organize, and implement the SGA's Major Event every semester. This involves planning our concerts we host every semester for the students for FREE!! We are able to get big names Our Residence Hall Association is extremely active on campus. The RHA plan and host major events every semester for ALL ETSU student at no cost. The residence life on campus is amazing and is growing every year. The athletic events on campus are every popular with our student body and community. We always have a great student representation at games. We host numerous guest speakers and comedians every semester at no cost to students. Also, our theater departement usually puts on at least two performances every semester, all student ran. The dating scene at our campus is just like any other campus. However ETSU is unique, we have a 1 to 5 ratio of men to women! I met some of my closest friends and relationships in the activities I have been involved with on campus. There are numerous traditions that we have every year that are unique to ETSU, for example Homecoming Week, Major Event Concerts, and many more! Now the question you have been waiting for, is ETSU a party school. The answer, any school is what you make it. There is a different scene for whatever you want to become involved with. Fraternities and Sororities do play an active leadership role on our campus. Greek life is popular and expanding! There are plenty of things to do on the weekends that don't involve partying. The surrounding area has a lot to off off campus. I know my friends and I enjoy going out on a Saturday night and catching up over dinner then maybe a movie or bowling or even laser tag! A lot of students enjoy going snow boarding or snow skiing during the winter months. We have a number of snow slops only minutes from our campus.

Alisha

There are several big organizations/groups on campus. Some examples are Student Government Association, POLO- Preview and Orientation Leaders Organization, Admissions Ambassadors (campus tours), and Residence Hall Association. I am an active member of Admissions Ambassadors. There are over 200 clubs here at ETSU. These clubs range from academic clubs like honor societies and clubs for your major, to ghost hunting clubs. There are a few sororities and fraternities on campus. They are not an integral part of ETSU campus life, but they are available for students who are interested. Athletic events are somewhat popular. Out biggest sport here is basketball. Soccer is becoming a big sport as well.

Nick

There are so many organizations on campus that are tailored just for the individual student. If it is special interest groups such as skydiving, we have it. If you want major specific organization such as STEA or Communicology Student Association, we have it too. If you want religious organization such as The Well, CRU, and Muslim Student Association, we have them too. There are consistently lectures and speakers on campus weekly who discuss a variety of topics. Some interesting lectures have come to campus. One of the greatest ways that students meet their friends is through Preview the week before classes start or through their major/minor classes and in the residence halls. Fraternities and sororities are important, but they do not take over the school like other college campuses. Johnson City is large so students can find themselves, eat at the many restaurants, shopping at the mall or other stores, seeing a movie, or taking part in outdoor activities. We are a dry campus partying doesn't happen much on campus.

Nick

There are so many organizations on campus that are tailored just for the individual student. If it is special interest groups such as skydiving, we have it. If you want major specific organization such as STEA or Communicology Student Association, we have it too. If you want religious organization such as The Well, CRU, and Muslim Student Association, we have them too. There are consistently lectures and speakers on campus weekly who discuss a variety of topics. Some interesting lectures have come to campus. One of the greatest ways that students meet their friends is through Preview the week before classes start or through their major/minor classes and in the residence halls. Fraternities and sororities are important, but they do not take over the school like other college campuses. Johnson City is large so students can find themselves, eat at the many restaurants, shopping at the mall or other stores, seeing a movie, or taking part in outdoor activities. We are a dry campus partying doesn't happen much on campus.

Ruth

While we do have the usual sororities and fraternities, there are also over 200 clubs and organizations at ETSU. Intermurals are pretty popular with every sport from flag-football to ping-pong to innertube water polo. There are a couple of different outdoor activity groups that organize hiking, camping, backpacking, kayaking, caving, scuba, rock-climbing, and skiing/snowboarding trips. Because ETSU is located next door to the Cherokee National Forest and the Blue Ridge mountains with the appalachina trail, outdoor opporunities abound whether or not you join an organization. The student gym rents outdoor equipment by the night or week so you can go adventuring whenever you want wherever you want without having to purchase your own gear. We also have a large ultimate frisbee club and a disc golf club that is beginning to grow. We are getting a disc golf course on campus next semester. For those less into outdoor activities, we have a student group called Buctainment that organizes movie nights, shows by comedians and hypnotists, and entertaining lectures. Our SGA also organizes a concert each semester involving a big name musician or group such as Maroon five, One Republic, Jordan Sparks, Carie Underwood, etc. There are also plenty of honor societies and service organizations that allow for participation in volunteer activities to help those less fortunate in the community. There are many five-k's, road races, tri-athlon, and cycling races held in the area throughout the year.