Greek life participation/sports game attendance

Colleges and Universities A-Z Ohio University
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I have two questions concerning Ohio U. We plan to visit this summer and my son has watched the virtual info session.

  1. How important is Greek life? What is the percentage of students (male/female) actually are members? Is it ok if you are not part of a sorority/fraternity?

  2. Do students attend the games (football, basketball, baseball, etc) to cheer their school on?

My son LOVES sports so that would definitely be important to him for that school spirit? My son is social, but so far not a partier which I know can change in college. He is the type of kid who gets along with anybody in a low key way. We are from the NE.

Thanks for any input.

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@nidaco My son graduated OU in 2020 after a wonderful 3 3/4 (when factoring in the Covid halt) years there. He was not a member of a fraternity, but was on the rugby team which operates much like a frat (complete with a house and socials). He had plenty of friends who were part of Greek life, but far more that were not. He would say that Greek life is not critical to OU.

As for attending games–this is not like Big 10/SEC schools. Sure, there are a fair number of students at football, basketball and hockey games, but it is not overwhelming–meaning you can always get in. As parents we were lucky enough to see a game or two in all these sports while visiting (we are OOS, from MA) and really enjoyed it. My son also enrolled in a course which was co-sponsored by ESPN which allowed him to help film/broadcast many of the basketball and volleyball games for ESPN3 during his freshman and sophomore years which was a real plus.

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Greek life is there but not important. There are many very liberal students who wouldn’t think of joining. But either way he can find his group.

People go to sports events definitely. It’s not the only thing to do but if you’re into, you’ll find plenty of others who are as well.

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That’s been my impression concerning Greek life. OU did win the MAC this past year in basketball and went to the NCAA tournament. Their football team is usually pretty good. Congrats to your son. I remember conversations when our kids first started going to OU. My D is now a grad student there in their DPT program. She loves it there.

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Don’t know how I forgot about the men’s basketball team this year! Their run to the NCAA tournament was so much fun to watch. :slight_smile:

We are so looking forward to heading back to Athens in September for the 2020 graduation ceremony. It’s a real testament to the school that they are doing a whole in person ceremony for this class. We can’t say enough about OU–so glad your daughter is continuing to thrive there! :green_heart:

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