University of North Carolina at Asheville Top Questions

Usually everyone thinks "hippie", yes we are but it is more of a wide variety of people. You get to express yourself however you want and no one will judge you.

There is a stereotype of hippies at UNCA. Though this is definitely accurate to some degree, I don't find the average student a hippie. Also, I have been overwhelmed by "hippie-like" students that defy the stereotype of the stoned, uneducated hippie. UNCA students are brilliant even if they have pink dreds, are covered with tattoos, and smoke weed. I love the active, involved, brilliant minds that almost all UNCA students are.

White Upper-middle-class and Homosexuals, This is stereotypically accurate because we are a liberal-arts school that offers special courses in Women's Studies and LGBTQ studies, which, of course, appeals to the LGBTQ community because they can find an academic career path that accepts who they are and studies where he/she/? comes from. Also, Asheville is known for being a very liberal town within a very conservative state, therefore attracting, in general, many liberal thinking-people, including homosexuals. As for the White Upper-middle-class status, although we are a public university, we do not offer any programs, contrary to the LGBTQ studies we offer, there is not a strong support or availability for African American studies, which hinders our appeal to the African-American community. From what I have heard, steps are being taken to encourage a more diverse campus to increase our appeal to African-Americans, Asian-Americans, etc

The student body at UNC-A, like most other colleges, has a mix of people with different talents and methods of expression. Nestled in the mountains of Asheville, North Carolina, this school attracts people who are "outdoorsy." The fall is a beautiful season and our active outdoors department leads hikes and rafting trips. Because Asheville is a city with local crafters and artisans, this school has a lot of studentswho either make or enjoy art. Without a football team, this university doesn't attract people concerned only with sports, usually. However, with a new basketball stadium and health and fitness center, the school seems to be recruiting more and more sports players. Even if sports aren't big, intramurals can be. There's always a frisbee flying by on the quad or tightrope walker between the trees.

The stereotype is that students at UNCA are stoners. There are definitely a lot of people who smoke pot and do psychedelic drugs, but there are also plenty who don't. The one thing that I've noticed about students at UNCA (my stereotype of them) is that they are all extremely intelligent, even the ones who do drugs. It is easy to find people of all walks of life, though. It's very diverse here.

i didn't know much about the university before attending last fall but I knew that asheville was a small town and had a reputation for being a very earthy and hippie place. the same does apply to the school. most students dress very casual for class and on weekends and definitely support the local economy.

Everyone now matter what you consider yourself is accepted and welcomed on our campus. There plenty of hippies, but there are also athletes, a strong Jewish community, an honors program, anime fans. Everyone accepts and does not judge others for what they chose to be at UNCA. It is one of the things I love about UNCA.

I don't think anyone at our school likes to use stereotypes, but I suppose if you were to "label" students, they would fit more into a "stoner" category. Everyone seems very active in their work, their community, and environmentally friendly. There is also a large spectrum of sexualities.

The stereotype for the most part is of stoners and hippies, but I don't see the former as being significantly more present here than at any other college. However, this is a hippie-heavy town and campus, which I personally love! Most of them are really nice, non-proselytizing hippies.

One UNCA Ambassador jokes that there are two types of students at UNCA: those who are barefoot and those who wear shoes. The students who go around barefoot chill in the smokers section, slack off and play music a lot. The students who wear shoes are taking a million hours, involved in a lot of clubs and have a lot of plans for life after graduation. All stereotypes do have some truth. There are UNCA students who get high every day but most students do not. There are a lot of type A students but not all UNCA students are. Most students fall somewhere in the middle of these stereotypes. We have all sorts of students: jocks, frat kids, stoners, geeks and students who do not fit into any of these groups. If you come to UNCA you will meet a lot of other students: some who fit into the stereotype of what you would expect and some who are completely different then it.