Well, as the loudest groups are the ones which are heard, Greek life groups would have to be the most popular ones on campus. There is a tradition of painting on a big rock in the center of campus to advertise events, and most events splashed on the rock are those of Greek organizations. With Pepperdine's dry campus, Greek life mainly revolves around philanthropy rather than partying. Popular events are Pie with the Pi Phis, where students pay to throw a pie in the face of a Pi Phi to raise donations for the girls' causes, and the Crescent Classic Gamma Games, where sororities raise funds through a day of competitive games. One of the best-known groups is PIT, the Pepperdine Improv Troupe, who perform their improvised antics several times per semester. Other groups with high visibility include the College Libertarians, who post a Free Speech wall for all to write upon once a semester. They are known to be the Socrates of Pepperdine, the "gadfly on the rump" so to speak, pestering conservatives with their idealistic views. Meanwhile The Face of Microfinance gains moderate visibility on campus by selling trinkets made by communities in developing countries to raise money for micro finance loans.
Groups which are less overt are the Native American Student Organization and the Grammar Gang, the latter being a group who slinks around campus correcting grammar blunders on flyers and posters. I am involved in the student-run campus newspaper, the Graphic, for which I have served as journalist, photographer, and photo editor, and am a member of We Art Aware, a club which calls attention to social issues through art and creativity. I am a part of the Grammar Gang crew, and have acted in comedy sketches for the Randumb Show, Pepperdine's longest running TV show, through which students have produced absurdist comedy featured on CNN and Ashton Kutcher's twitter. I have been the international news writer for Pepperdine's bi-weekly live news broadcast, NewsWaves, and am employed by the theater department to help build their sets. One with varying interests has a lot of options to get involved--all it takes is wondering who does what and finding out if they could use your help to do it.
Despite all the groups and their events, the dating scene at Pepperdine is dismal. There is this pressure to find "the one" compounded by the sad truth that most everyone will know if your relationship has failed, as you walk past the same people nearly every single day. So most boys and girls avoid frivolous relationships, holding out to invest in that special someone. When any meaningless hookups do happen, the campus turns a blind eye to these rare sightings. Instead, the phrase "ring by spring" haunts Pepperdine's halls, taunting upperclassmen on the ins or outs of a relationship that marriage could be on their horizon.
To shift gears: Things that don't involve drinking are watching movies, which is actually guy-code for "is this a date?".
I have only been to one Pepperdine party in two years. It was awful and everyone that was there pretended the raunchy dancing didn't ever happen come Monday.
At 2am on a Tuesday: I am staring at a computer screen writing a fictional story.
My closest friends are the ones I can never remember how I met, although they are people who keep me on my toes.
Without this largely "interesting" experience at Pepperdine, I am unsure whether I would be as driven, spiritual, or open-minded of a person as I am today.