Seton Hall University Top Questions

What are the most popular student activities/groups?

Justine

Basketball is huge at Seton Hall and all of the students get very excited about going to the games. Greek life is very popular at the school as well. There is a little town three blocks away from the school that students can enjoy instead of drinking. SOPAC holds performances weekly and is also part of a beautiful movie theater. There are plenty of beautiful restaurants and cafes in the area and Short Hills shopping mall is 15 minutes away. It generally is not safe to walk late at night by yourself or in a small group. Students should plan their night time activites based on the SHUFLY schedule which is a shuttle provided by Seton Hall that will transport you to and from places within a certain mileage. Students do leave their doors open, but RAs prefer that we do not because of fire codes and such. They are very serious about that and following the rules in the dorms due to a serious fire in one of the dormitories a few years ago.

Matthew

I can tell you about my experience. I didn’t pledge a fraternity, I commuted my freshman year. Pledging is a difficult process on its own and even though I wanted to I knew I could not commute back and forth while pledging- it was just too much. But somehow I ended up hanging out with a group of Filipinos. I am white and had never hung out with Asians before, but we all commuted and it worked out well. Eventually they got me to join their organization FLASH- Filipino League at Seton Hall. They were all older than me for the most part and we would party together quite often. Even though I very much regretted commuting my freshman year (I do suggest dorming for the first one). The people I ended up meeting my first year here had a positive impact on my life that went beyond my greatest expectations.

Aubrey

Many students partake in or attend athletic events (Varsity, Club, Intramural). SHU offers most sports (Basketball, Volleyball, Softball, Baseball, Cross Country, Golf, Ultimate frisbee, tennis, dodgeball, soccer, flag football, hockey and many more) Quidditch may be added to this list as well! The most popular team on campus is the Men's Basketball team. A majority of SHU students buy season tickets and really show their Pirate Pride! We have a new system in which you go to as many sporting events as you possibly can and you recieve points. The more points you get, the better prizes you recieve. (hat, t-shirt, jacket, xbox, tv etc).

Jessica

Greek life. No aprty-life. Athletic events are not popular. People usually go home on the weekends because there is nothing to do here.

Annamarie

You are not allowed to bolt you dorm doors or leave them open because the doors are fireproof and propping them open is a fire hazard (check out Seton Hall history, this school the number 1 fire safe school in the nation i'm pretty sure). I met my closest friends in the honors program. We all lived together freshamn year and even though I dropped, we all still eat and live together. There are a ton of clubs on campus. it is a great way to meet people. Personally I am in the (not science...speech) Public Speaking Competition Team, Newark ka Noor (Indian Dance Team), Biology Society, Alpha Epsilon Delta (Pre-med Honors Society), Bible Study Group, Orchestra, Flute Ensemble, and Eucharistic Ministering. There are a lot of frats and sororities. I don't know a lot of people who pledged although I saw many walking around campus. I have never been to a party involving drinking and I have had a great time so far. You will still have loooooaaads of friends if you don't party.

Eileen

Greek life and student athletes make up a majority of the student body. I am a member of a sorority on campus and it was the best decision I ever made. I've met my best friends through my sorority and it keeps me extremely involved in the campus community. Since Seton Hall is a NCAA Division 1 school, there are a ton of student athletes and they make up a big portion of the students. On the weekends, there are always parties going on whether it is at a frat house or a sports team's house

bob

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Kenneth

I would have to say that our Student Government Association, Student Activities Board, and Greek Life are probably our most popular, but there are over 100 clubs and organizations here on campus and if you can't find something that you are interested in you can always create one. I do know that about 80{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} of our students are in at least one organization and about 50{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} are in many. I know this because I am one of those 50{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} that stays really active here at the school. I am a senator for the Student Government Association, an Executive Board Member for the Commuter Council, and a member of Campus Ministry's Liturgical Ministers I keep myself pretty busy. Also students go to NYC almost every weekend. There is so much to there and with the train being a shuttle stop away from the campus its about a half hour train ride till you are in NYC Penn Station. The Student Activity Board puts on so many events and right now they are planning our annual Christmas Celebration which this year will include (if I am correct) the annual Christmas Tree Lighting on the Campus Green, Winter Ball, Ice Skating Rink here on campus, and that is just to name a couple. But there so much to do. Even in South Orange there is so much going on.....so being bored is a myth here.

Kate

Student activities are a huge part of campus life. I for one joined a sorority my freshman year because of everything it could offer me. I have made some of the closest friends I could imagine, and I would not have enjoyed my experience at SHU as much if I hadn't made the choice to go Greek.Many of my friends are involved with student government as well, one of my best friends being the President of the Senior Class of 2012. Due to fire codes, students are not allowed to keep their dorm room dorms wedged open, but each dorm is very friendly and open with each other. Athletics are very hot and cold, due to how good the team is doing or if there is nothing else going on that night off campus. Since I live off campus, I usually spend my free time on the couch with my 6 best friends. We have been friends since the first semester of freshman year and again, I couldn't imagine my time at SHU without them. Fraternities are important to guys due to the small size of the school and boys not wanting randoms at their parties. On the other hand, while it isn't mandatory for a girl to be in a sorority to have a social life, it definitely helps. If there isn't a party going on, it is very likely to find yourself just messing around on campus with your friends in each other's dorm rooms.

Taylor

Here at Seton Hall the most popular activity is joining a Greek organization. There are multiple fraternities and sororities as well as multi cultural orgs. I myself am a sister of Alpha Phi, in my sorority we are involved with a philanthropy which we raise money for annually, we also partake in community service all while enjoying our sisterhood and having tons of fun. There are also intramural sports which are very popular as well. Basketball games are also a lot of fun. Many student buy season tickets and watch all the home games at the prudential center. Dorming was the best experience of my life, it is such a unique experience to be placed with a bunch of your peers in an entirely foreign environment. I have met some of my best friends my freshman year when I first experienced the dorm life. Off campus there is a very quaint town where you can find some of the most adorable little shops and great homemade food!

Russell

Social life is what you make of it. There are loads of activities to get involved with and participate in. Parties usually occur at frats and sororities. Frat and sorority life isnt' huge at Seton Hall but it is not extremely small either. New York City is one positive that I usually take advantage on the Weekends.

Ashlee

Sororities and fraternities are not that important at SHU, if you want to be a part of them you can and it's great but they don't define the social life here. If you want to party and have a good time on the weekends or the weekdays if that's your thing you won't have any problems...they're there if you want it.

Raymond

We have tons of organizations and clubs to get involved with, not mention Greek life after your first semester of your Freshman year. There are also intramural which are a lot of fun. We have everything from basketball to dodgeball and tennis; and within each sport there are three leagues of competitiveness, giving everyone an opportunity to have fun and meet different people.

Courtney

SHU boasts over 100 clubs and organizations on campus for almost every major as well as plenty of social or community orgs. We have plenty of sororities and frats including service, social, and academic greek organizations. The Bball games are popular as well as the soccer games. Our student activities board is always host some kind of event from open mic nights to broadway show for $20 to dances year round. There's a movie theater right down the street as well as the train station so if nothing's happening on campus there's other stuff to do nearby. You can go out to eat at the nearby restaurants, hit up the theater, or go to NYC. You're only bored if you want to be, there will be someone doing something and because the community is so small you'll hear about it, or know someone who's going.

Alexandra

I think the most popular group on campus is the basketball team for what I do not know! I actually wish we had a football team so we could win something. I myself run track and love my coaches and have won a few championships but noticed that we just get a pat on the back for doing so. I have friends at other schools and I noticed that their schools are more into their athletics and show it as well. This is one thing that I wish I had of known on my visit as well because I am a very athletic person and hate that only one sport gets praised here and sports like mines as well as the girls softball team and the mens soccer team seem to go unnoticed but are very high ranked in Big East and some in the nation. I find that its hard to do school and a sport but we do it and I feel like I would have enjoyed my years more if I attended a school where there were less problems and more support from the school but I cannot go back in time now. Outside of sports my social life does not exist really. I have regular student friends and I don't get to see them so much because I am traveling all the time. When I do we usually are in NY hanging out movies, lunch, dinner, shopping etc. There is not much in South Orange to do for students. The school has a few functions but not many of the students like the ones that they have or they do not suit a particular crowd of students. I do not know much about fraternities and sororities as this school does not have any that suit my preference like Deltas, Aka's etc. And many of the students who do pledge go to another school to do so. I am a athlete all year around so my time does not allow me to do so...Maybe I will do so in Grad School or something. One thing I can say is that here it is a very honest surrounding meaning that I can leave my door open for a week and no one will walk in. As I do leave my door open sometimes and nothing is ever bothered. Or maybe I was just fortunate enough to not experience it.