Samford University Top Questions

What are the most popular student activities/groups?

Charles

There is little party life discernable on campus, save that which is well hidden from those who aren't part of the well heeled Southern aristocracy. If you happen to be in a frat or happen to have a friend or two that is, you may see parties with beer, bongs and inappropriate touching. It appears that training at Samford well prepares an individual for a life of hypocrisy and strict adherence to double standards. I recently saw pictures from a dinner party at "Chris' place", which turned out to be a condo that looked like it had been decorated by someone's wealthy grandmother. How often do you run into a college sophomore whose condo is decorated with Stickley, Ethan Allen and Thomasville? The highlight of the party? A spray fest with the sink sprayer. Subsequent photos showed the zany party goers dutifully daubing the water off the walls.

Mandy

Like before, religious groups are huge. The party scene is minimal, but there is one. Extremely underground. 90{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} of Samford's population are closet drinkers. Drinking can occur in the dorms of frat houses, nearby colleges, or clubs that serve to the underage. Everything is kept hush, hush. A typical Saturday night would consist of a dinner and a movie. Can get boring - REAL fast. Unless you're in athletics or greek, be prepared to not meet the opposite sex. Visitation and single sexed dorms don't help. Samford has athletics.. but not very good ones, and people tend to not get that excited about them. People will go camping, watch movies, or volunteer for some organization on weekends.

Emmerson

Although, there is not a whole lot to do on the weekends, students have learned to create their own fun...Birmingham has a lot to do, including a cool music scene, but you have to be creative and proactive.

Jill

The most popular groups and organizations on campus are the sororities and fraternities, and the many academic and service honor societies that Samford offers. I was very involved with the Pre-medical Honor Society and that was very influential in my life because I learned all I needed to know about being a competitive applicant to medical school on top of getting cheap science books from members of the society, as well as great advice for the MCAT. Social Life at Samford occurs mainly in the cafeteria and the quad. I met all of my best friends in the cafeteria. During the weekends, most people go to nearby cities such as Atlanta and Nashville. People stay up late, and you will easily find students running or playing at 2 am around Samford's campus. Dancing is quite popular, and on Saturday nights you will find one third of Samford salsa dancing at Work Play. If you love good music and theatre, you will love our Fine Arts deparment because they are always coming out with amazing productions such as the Secret Garden, Cinderella, operas, etc. If you get tired of being in Birmingham, you can easily drive to the beach, Atlanta, Nashville, New Orleans, and other places because they are all failry close to Samford. I am sure that every weekend you will find something fun to do. I

Mel

Since my freshman year I have been apart of nothing on campus. You are required to live on campus until your are 21, married, or live with your parents (but if you tell the university you live at home, you can move easily). After my sophomore year I got an apartment with friends (not Samford students) and saved a considerable amount of money by not paying the $3,000 per semester dorm fees. There are some clubs and groups but I have not familiarized myself with any of them. I have been invited to several root beer kegers, yes they have a keg of root beer, but declined. Recently a new gymnasium has been built with a great weight room, other than that and class, I’m no where near campus.

Caroline

I am in a sorority at Samford and I love it. Its a great way to meet new friends, get involved at Samford and in the surrounding communities. Birmingham is a great city to go out and have fun in on the weekends. There are tons of cute bistros and such in the suberbs outside birmingham.

caroline

Greek life is HUGE on campus and if you are not involved you often times feel left out. ( i joined my sophmore year so I know). Samford I believe is really really lacking in activies for students to do on the weekends. The whole campus shuts down, literally shuts down. There are never events or anything planned for the students on the weekends. Even during the week samford activities are extremly lacking. Intramurals are HUGE on campus so many students take part in that. I met my closest friends my freshmen year we all lived on the same hall togather. That's one great thing about Samford their freshmen experience and programs are amazing!! Not much partying goes on on campus however, many students just take it off campus. Drinking does occur more than you think.

Jo

The campus itself is only "alive" during the week. It seems a lot of people go out of town on weekends, which was kind of weird/hard the first two years I lived on campus. Despite this, my friends and I always found something to do, and it was kind of nice to have some "quiet" on the weekends when everyone was gone. A lot of people are in sororities and fraternities. The Greek program is really strong, but often has a negative connotation with those not invovled (but most schools experience this).

David

As I said earlier Greek Life is a major part of the social scene on campus. Other areas people like to get involved in are Chritian college ministries: UCF, Campus Outreach, and RUF. It is a wonder that Samford does not yet have a BCM. There are plenty of athletic events and plenty of famous speakers are brought in to give lectures. The dating scene can be a little tricky because these days people like to get to know each other in group outings first but as a general rule, the people here really do want to date. The party scene here usually involves either Greek Life, going off campus, or Christian groups.

Liz

I'm involved with Phi Mu as well as Campus Ministries. I love the theater but rarely go to sporting events. Dating scene? what dating scene? I met my closest friends through Phi Mu and just through other friends. If Im awake at 2 on a Tues then I'm either finishing a paper or (most likely) talking to me roommates!! Other than sorority functions, Ive yet to go to a campus party. You can do everything without drinking! We love to go to the dollar theater.

Whitney

I'm not sure what the "most" popular groups are here. They all seem pretty active. You do have to get convo credits though... but they don't have to be chapels. Certain concerts, plays, lectures, etc. can count. We have guest speakers, famous people, events, etc. all the time. You can find many things to do in spare time... it depends on what you into.

Whitney

I'm not sure what the "most" popular groups are here. They all seem pretty active. You do have to get convo credits though... but they don't have to be chapels. Certain concerts, plays, lectures, etc. can count. We have guest speakers, famous people, events, etc. all the time. You can find many things to do in spare time... it depends on what you into.

Oliver

EXCELLENT!!!!

Jonathan

Samford is by no means a party school -- but that doesn't mean you can't have fun. Though Samford provides different activities for incoming freshmen to get to know each other, most incoming students' friends will consist of those who live in their dorms. If you have a choice, by all means, live on campus! Freshmen dorm life is one of the best experiences at Samford. Most people leave their doors open or encourage others to walk in without even knocking. During freshmen year, I almost always had people in my room talking or playing video games or whatever, and ping-pong tables, televisions, etc., can be found in the lobby. Once one graduates from the freshmen dorms, though, he or she will probably find dorm/apartment life a bit lacking, with students making little effort to get to know the people in surrounding rooms. But that's alright, and shouldn't necessarily be viewed as negative - by sophomore year, ideally students will already have a lot of friends, either from their major or from the freshmen dorms or from some on-campus club, and won't necessarily rely on dorms for making friends anymore. Most students wouldn't be found within a mile of any athletic events. Instead, religious groups like UCF, Campus Outreach or RUF seem to be some of the most popular "hang out" opportunities at Samford. But the big "Super Bowl" of events at Samford comes every February in the form of "Step Sing," in which practically the entire school either participates in or goes to watch this music and dance competition. It's fun, but it's probably a bit overhyped. Most of the student body does not seem to be involved in fraternities and sororities, but Greek Life certainly is an important presence on campus. And an important part of Samford is definitely the quad. Samford is a beautiful place, and anyone walking by the quad will almost always find people having a picnic, throwing around a frisbee, playing croquet, or stretching out in hammocks.

Shannon

Sororities and Fraternities are very popular. I was in a sorority but had very close friends who were independent and they never regretted their decision not to be greek. Its fun to be greek and it offers a lot of activities, but it is also completely untrue that if you aren't greek you won't have fun or have friends. Lots of students live on campus - I did all four years and it was nice because I just had to walk to class instead of leaving 30 minutes before to drive to campus. I met my closest friends through my hall freshman year (i'm still very good friends with about half the people from my hall). Samford does a really good job of make your freshman year amazing. All the freshmen live together and the RA's in the freshman dorm really make everyone on the hall seem like family. Through my sorority I also made great friends. Both groups of friends are the kind of friends who will be in my wedding.

Kaylee

There are numerous options for activities around campus. From sports to Bible study there is something for everyone.

Jonathan

I am apart of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia. It is a social music fraternity. Some brothers are music majors but more than half are not, and prospectives are not weighted by musical talent. It's a very welcoming group of guys. It's a fraternity without people who are on a power trip. I met my closest friends through Phi Mu Alpha, and through band. I am friends with some computer science majors (it's my 2nd major). I enjoy staying up late, talking the night away with close friends. These people are rare at Samford, though. Most students at Samford have a stable sleep schedule (in bed by midnight if not an hour or two before).

Whitney

University Ministries is definitely a huge part of the Samford campus. They are involved with many different things including Mission trips, convocations, shiloh, etc. Athletic events are not very popular at Samford. I joined a service sorority Gamma Sigma Sigma and this is where I have met my closest friends. Also I have some close friends who are pharmacy majors also. I don't drink and there are many things to do in Birmingham that do not involve drinking such as movies, hanging out at friends houses, concerts, bowling, etc.

Sarah

Samford often has events for different kinds of charity and inequality (Justice Under the Lights, Got Excess?, Save Engage magazine, etc.) Theatre events and guest speakers are much more popular than sporting events. People don't really date at Samford (sadly). Basically, if you are in a relationship, you are going to marry that person. I met my closest friends through living in the dorm and through classes. If I am awake at 2 a.m. on a Tuesday, I am writing a paper or studying. There is a huge bonfire and parade during homecoming, and there are a few parties a year at one of Samford's off-campus houses. Fraternities and sororities are not very important; most people are independents. Last weekend, I went to dinner with friends and a pub downtown.

Sarah

Student Ministries is by far the most popular.

Ainsley

Fraternities and sororities are prevalent on campus but you don't have to rush if you don't want. They don't run the school or anything. You can definitely go through Samford without Greek life. People party but you have to find them. It's not an open thing nor do most people party. Lots of people go out of town, movies, dinner, and just hang out. We're a pretty chill group but we study a lot. People study on the weekends often. There are also those who go hiking, camping, rock climbing, and what not. There are a lot of opportunities around Birmingham that you can get plugged into. Most people keep their doors locked if they're not there. I wouldn't suggest just leaving everything open to all. Theater and guest speakers are very popular as are concerts. Workplay is in Birmingham and we go there all the time for concerts. I go to coffee shops with people and talk a ton. Like I said, we're very relational. However, the girl to guy ratio is 3 to 1 so there aren't many guys which gets frustrating. A lot of them are kind of pansies anyway. If I'm awake on a Tuesday at 2am it's because I'm studying. I met all of my best friends on my hall freshman year. We have deferred rush and so I lived in the Freshman dorm and we all met and have been friends ever since. You also don't have to live in the sorority houses which is nice. People tend to be morning people. Yes we sleep in, but it's definitely more of a get up and get the day started kind of school rather than a late night party hard school.

Ashley

I can say that Samford Social life is not as wild as other unversities from what I hear. Their are alot of opportunites to have good clean wholesome fun.

Jackie

The most popular groups are sororities and frats. I am involved in varsity vollleyball so I mainly hang out with athletes. People in dorms leave them unlocked a lot, its very safe. There is barely any support at athletic events. A lot of people here don't party..but a lot of people that say they don't party really do. Tons of fake people here. There is no one outside on campus at 2 in the morning unless they are leaving the library.

Ron

Weak greek systems dominates, independents are small segregated groups. Most disturbing aspect.

Rory

socail life is okay, if you know the right people off campus it can be SO fun!