When Rolling Stone coined Western’s nickname the school had lots of Greek societies, and judging from the yearbooks (which have long since stopped being published) a lot of school spirit revolving around sporting events—our biggest rival was Adams State and our gymnasium was known as “The Zoo”. The School also had a bar in the student union and the annual Spring Fest that was held on school grounds and was fueled by Semi-trucks full of beer (not any longer).
Since then the school has drastically changed. The mindset of Western students seem to be individualistic in socially identifying themselves as such Western has no social sororities or fraternities and the only Greek letters you will find are those that are attached to academic honor societies or those found on some of the benches that Kapa-Delta-Mu once erected around campus before they vanished. Students’ attendance and school spirit at sporting events like basketball and football is low. In fact the most attendance the football team ever sees is at homecoming—when all the alumni from the old days come back—and parents weekend—when the parents drag their students to see the game. The school has twice over built a new student Union and the original log cabin student union building has been moved a crossed town and now serves as the local cowboy bar. The most followed school sports now involve skiing and cross-country running. This is because of the large amount of students that are involved in these activities (aggressive recruiting from the coach) and the friends of the athletes that come to cheer them on.
As stated before the school revolves heavily around outdoor activities and the most popular clubs reflect that. Western’s most popular clubs include Swing Dance Club, a Rodeo Club and an Adventure Racing Club. Western is unique in that it was the first College with a certified Mountain Search and Rescue Team that is run by students and is open to all. This group trains at least twice a week and is often called out to find lost/injured hunters, hikers and backcountry snow enthusiast as well as rescue injured climbers including those found in the near-by Black Canyon National Park.
Western also has its own student run outfitting and guiding store—Wilderness Pursuits. As a student for very low prices you can rent the gear needed for any number of trips or take a class or guided trip in a variety of wilderness activities (climbing, hiking, camping, kayaking, skiing, Avalanche training, etc). The classes are offered at various levels of skill and range in time from an hour-long class to a 2-week long trip over a break.
Big annual events include Homecoming Weekend when there’s a bonfire and the College Rescue Team lights the “W” on the side of Tenderfoot Mountain on fire. The school also has Spring Fest with bands lots of events and activities around April and May. The program council also brings in entertainment such as speakers, comedians, hypnotist and bands in one to two times a month
More frequent are events that revolve around educational lectures and seminars or forums focusing on issues affecting the local community. These often are issues regarding land uses and/or protection of wildlife and wildlife habitat.
As stated before the school has honor societies, which occasionally host events often attend regional gatherings.
Dorm life at Western is relaxed some floors are themed like the Science Floor, the Art Floor and the Outdoor Floor but most aren’t and students in the dorms often keep their doors open to talk to others when they are around.
Western is still known for being a party school and the name “Wasted State” still fits. You can find a party somewhere around here almost every night but since there are no fraternities the general rule is if bring something to drink your in. There's no elitism around here.