Student Organizations and Activities
Students may practice journalism and management on any of six different publications. The undergraduate student newspaper on campus, the Observer, is published weekly. Other campus publications include the yearbook; a literary magazine, Case Reserve Review; a technical magazine, the Engineering and Science Review; and a history and social sciences magazine, Mather Quad Review.
The University's student-operated radio station, WRUW-FM 91.1, which operates at 1,000 watts, offers opportunities for any student interested in radio broadcasting and engineering. The Amateur Radio Club also allows students to participate in radio.
Students interested in the arts have numerous opportunities for involvement. Eldred Theater offers dance and drama activities. Students interested in the visual arts may work with the Mather Gallery Committee. Students with musical interests may participate in several performing organizations, including the Case Western Reserve University Marching Band, two jazz bands, the Wind Ensemble, the University Circle Chorale, the Collegium Musicum, the Glee Club, and the University Circle Orchestra. The Department of Music has information on auditions.
A variety of intercollegiate and intramural activities is available and is enthusiastically supported by the students. Intercollegiate sports for men are football, soccer, cross country, basketball, wrestling, swimming, fencing, golf, baseball, tennis, and track. Intercollegiate sports for women are volleyball, basketball, swimming, track, fencing, tennis, cross country, and soccer. The University is a charter member of the North Coast Athletic Conference and the University Athletic Association. Competition in all sports is available to men and women in each conference. The North Coast Athletic Conference includes Allegheny College, Denison University, Earlham College, Kenyon College, Oberlin College, Ohio Wesleyan University, the College of Wooster, and Wittenberg University. The University Athletic Association includes Brandeis University, Carnegie Mellon University, Emory University, Johns Hopkins University, New York University, University of Chicago, University of Rochester, and Washington University.
Archery, crew, fast-pitch baseball, water polo, lacrosse, volleyball, softball, minna jiu jitsu, tae kwon do, and ice hockey sport clubs are available to all students, faculty, and staff. Intramural competition is available in more than 40 activities, and more than one-half of the undergraduates participate for relaxation, physical fitness, or a chance to improve skills.
The three staffed campus ministries recognized by the University are the Hallinan (Newman) Center, the Hillel Foundation, and the University Christian Movement. These centers sponsor worship services and religious education activities, as well as general programs oriented to the interest of all students. In addition, the campus has several other religious organizations open to all students.
An unusually large number of films is shown at the University. The Film Society shows outstanding motion pictures four times weekly, from popular films to foreign art films. The Film Society publishes a calendar of offerings each semester. The CWRU Film Society uses Strosacker Auditorium. It is one of the few university film societies to show films in 70 mm and Dolby stereo. Other student organizations also show films centering on their interests or for special events.
The Office of Student Activities has made a commitment to providing a variety of leadership opportunities to CWRU students. The Undergraduate Student Government holds elections each fall for student class representatives of residence hall, commuter club, and fraternity and sorority constituencies. The student government acts as a liaison between the students and the faculty, administration, and other appropriate groups and fulfills legislative and executive functions.
The Executive Committee plans the agenda for assembly meetings every other week and sets long-range goals. The Finance Committee recommends recognition and budget allocations for undergraduate student organizations. The Finance Committee also advises the student government on the management of special project funds. The Development Committee works to improve the quality of co-curricular life on campus and maintains a grievance process whereby students may express their opinions. An elected undergraduate representative serves as a voting member of the university-wide Faculty Senate.
The Media Board supervises and reviews the operations of all undergraduate student publications and broadcast media. The Media Board, made up of students and faculty advisers, is coordinated by the Office of Student Affairs.
The University Program Board (UPB) presents all-campus social, educational, cultural, and recreational activities. Committees made up of undergraduate volunteers program activities in accord with their interests. The Entertainment Committee selects and sponsors singers, bands, and comedians at the Spot, Rough Rider Room, and Thwing Center. The Fine Arts Committee presents jazz, dance, visual arts, and other performing arts programs. The Lecture Committee plans and sponsors lectures by national speakers on topics of significance. The Diversity Programs Committee presents social and educational programs to increase cross-cultural understanding as well as cultural and educational programs concerning racial, sexual, and disabled minority interests.
Traditional annual events such as Homecoming, and Parents' Weekend are planned and presented by the Special Events Committee.
All-campus parties and major concerts are planned by the Concert Committee. The Recreation and Development Committee co-sponsors educational programs as well as tickets to major sporting attractions and our annual Hudson Relays weekend.
The Interfraternity Congress/ Panhellenic Council oversees the activities of the Greek social organizations on campus. In the spring, they plan Greek Week activities and an all-campus party.
The Thwing Center Advisory Board serves as an adviser to the director of Thwing Center in making policy and developing facilities. Students, staff, faculty, and alumni serve as members of the Advisory Board.
Each undergraduate class elects officers to plan class activities, and each of the more than 100 student organizations also has officers. The undergraduate residence halls have governments which plan group activities and carry out other responsibilities.
Greek life is the largest campus activity at CWRU, involving over 30 percent of the undergraduate population in the 22 fraternity and sorority chapters. All of the chapters belong to one of the two umbrella organizations that govern the Greek system and link the chapters to the campus. The Panhellenic Council coordinates the activities of the five sororities while the Interfraternity Congress governs the 17 fraternities. The Greek system also supports the Order of Omega, a society which recognizes outstanding Greek leaders, and Gamma Sigma Alpha, a scholastic honor society for Greeks with a grade point average above 3.60. The director of Greek life is a full-time staff member who offers administrative, supervisory, counseling and related services to all facets of Greek life.
The four national sororities are Alpha Chi Omega, Alpha Phi, Alpha Xi Delta, and Phi Mu; and there is one local sorority, Sigma Psi. The 17 national fraternities are Beta Theta Pi, Delta Kappa Epsilon, Delta Tau Delta, Delta Upsilon, Phi Delta Theta, Phi Gamma Delta, Phi Kappa Psi, Phi Kappa Theta, Pi Kappa Alpha, Sigma Alpha Epsilon, Sigma Alpha Mu, Sigma Chi, Sigma Nu, Sigma Phi Epsilon (colony), Theta Chi, Zeta Beta Tau, and Zeta Psi. Eleven fraternity chapters reside in University-owned houses on the south campus; the remaining eleven fraternities have houses on the north campus.
Case Western Reserve has four major undergraduate honoraries. Several more are based on specific fields of interest. Tau Beta Pi and Eta Kappa Nu are engineering honoraries. Mortar Board, a national honorary society for full-time senior students, recognizes scholarship leadership, and service. Phi Beta Kappa, a national honorary society, recognizes outstanding scholarship in the liberal arts and sciences. Outstanding students may qualify for election to membership in the second semester of the senior year. A few specially gifted students may be elected to membership as juniors.
The CWRU Commuter Club operates a lounge for commuting students. The lounge, located in Pardee Hall, provides a place for commuters to relax, study, eat lunch, and meet other commuter students. The Commuter Club participates in intramural sports, student government, and other campus activities.
Special interest groups include the African-American Society; numerous nationality organizations and the International Club; recreational groups such as the Archery Club, the Strategic Gaming Society, and the Glee Club, and professional, honorary, and departmental organizations such as the Society of Women Engineers and Phi Alpha Theta, the history honor society. In all, more than 100 student organizations meet individual students' interests and needs. If a specific group does not exist, students are encouraged to form one.
Many social activities at CWRU have become traditional annual events. Freshmen Orientation takes place the week before fall classes begin and enables new students to acquaint themselves with the campus and its people at a picnic, an all campus party, and tours of University Circle. In the fall, Homecoming is a popular University-wide event including the homecoming football game, a brunch, and a semi-formal dance. Parents' Weekend, also in the fall, is a special time for parents and students to share a little college life. The African-American Heritage Celebration is a time for lectures, concerts, and discussions. Greek Week, in April, sets up friendly competition among fraternities and sororities. The Hudson Relay, in late April, honor Western Reserve College's move from Hudson, Ohio, to Cleveland with a 26 mile relay race among the undergraduate classes. Senior Week ends the year as the members of the graduating class join in a last round of activities before commencement.
CWRU Provost's Office --
About this server
-- Copyright 1996 CWRU
-- Unauthorized use prohibited
|