I feel like I see two polar opposite cultures at Vanderbilt. Affirm if I’m correct or not, please.
I can see there being a large group of “PC” type students and then a large group of typical Southern frat/sorority kids.
Is this true? If so, is this ever a problem on campus?
I feel as if every elite school with Greek life is going to have that to be very blunt as most lean significantly to “very” liberal. In addition, sororities usually are more left leaning and may somewhat overlap with the so called “PC” types. Kind of weird that anyone would be concerned about PC and how it juxtaposes against Greek Life on college campuses when there are so many other ways to qualify the non-Greek culture on most campuses other than the way they express their political ideals. Either way, I will let others answer this. If these actually are the two components of “culture” you are concerned about and the answer is “yes, these two things exist and are influential in the fabric of undergraduate culture”, then Vanderbilt is not remotely special versus other top privates and publics (most which still have much more political activism and so called “PC culture”). I would basically scratch off most top universities with Greek life or Greek equivalents if you are concerned about this.
Had one son go Greek (I was not a fan of this choice when he was 19) and one son stayed independent at Vandy. The more salient point at Vandy is that the student body is intensely diverse economically, by race, and by state now, with significant numbers of first generation students and students whose parents were first to the USA. The typical full pay portion % of the student body from affluent homes is quite similar to all the top 15 privates. At Vandy, the nature of the Greek world is that it is more than 50% participant among the female students, and this percentage has not altered as the student body underwent intense change. So women who join are getting needs of theirs met…I won’t speculate but it is interesting that participation has not declined. Men in frats are a smaller %.
I don’t think the term PC is useful. The student body at one time voted Republican (Reagan era) when I lived in Nashville. Now leans Dem. Vandy is unique among the top 15 in that there is actual debate on campus and in the classroom since conservative student voices are present. Students change in college over time and test all sorts of ideas. The caliber of strong national figures who come to campus to speak is exceptional and diverse. My feeling as a left-leaning parent, is that Vanderbilt is an excellent community for prepping for the workplace. Nashville is vibrant in multiple ways (state government-the most important health care center in the region-diverse businesses and wonderful arts scene). My Greek son (Duke) is still close to his frat brothers and I can only say that they have each led very meaningful lives and are now out in the world taking on serious challenges so pshaw on my personal prejudices.
I agree with bernie re not applying to schools that are antithetical to where you will be stuck for four years. Vandy’s campus is well integrated into Nashville itself which means you are not in an isolated town (Lexington, VA or say Dartmouth) where everyone is Greek. However, I think it is a mistake to not apply to schools with strong Greek subcultures if attending one of them could be perfectly great for you financially and academically. ie I would never counsel someone to not apply to UVA, Chapel Hill or Univ of Georgia because they have Greek subcultures on campus. Walk this world your way on such campuses where most students are indeed independent and doing other things. Also realize Greek students are often also heavily engaged in other pursuits that overlap with your own interests and beliefs. All students at Vandy are honors students and work very hard.
@Faline2 : I disagree with VU being exceptional in having conservatives “present” (maybe just more vocal for whatever reason, which could be a good thing. In addition, debates do happen elsewhere even with regards to politics. This is actually more dependent upon intellectual than political climate though the two overlap) and that controversial folks come to speak more so than elsewhere. That happens elsewhere but is significantly less well received (think Berkeley and Harvard), and even at VU, receives substantial protests. I’m not going to go into the complications about socioeconomics, full pay, and demographics (they have changed a bit, but still…I suppose it would be most comparable with Chicago demographic wise) and the magical threshold and trope of “top 15” (again, this is not a magical threshold worth recognition. An okay amount of the top 10s are a bit different in trajectory, academic caliber/intellectual vibe, and culture more than others, but all the other schools are quite similar. This demarcation is annoying and does not need to be drawn. I get that the ranking is some source of pride, but care must be taken here. I find it disturbing how much some fixate on that at ALL elites, to the point of distraction), I can pretty much agree with.
The change in some of the demographics and Greek % staying similar may hint at the fact that some forms of the “culture” at VU have indeed remained. And this is not unusual. Many institutions’ intellectual, social, and political cultures have remained static even as demographics and selectivity have changed (especially if the place was already very selective by all means) somewhat or significantly. It is sort of a chicken and egg thing, but usually students are attracted to things that make a school clearly unique, so it is possible for the “old cultures” being reinforced overtime but just in the context of new demographics. What does happen as the school diversifies is that there is likely more “alternatives” to the status quo culture that a school was known for, which is why I am completely against people worrying too much about the things the OP expressed concerned about. It is college. At most, if you try barely at all, you will get in where you fit in.
*In addition, with Greek life, I am not the biggest fan, HOWEVER, I’m going to keep it real. I like places that educate both in and out of the classroom really well and have a decent intellectual vibe, so this would of course include lots of well-known and less well-known LACs, many which are known to have huge Greek percentages, even in the northeast. I would never scratch those off my list if I was a prospective undergraduate student. I don’t see why Vanderbilt, an elite private university similar in many ways to the rest of the southern elites (Emory, Duke, Rice lesser so I guess) as well as some others (Dartmouth anyone?) in terms of Greek presence, should be continuously singled out. I suppose Duke gets a pass because it is Duke and Dartmouth gets a pass because it is an Ivy. Not sure at all why Emory gets a pass. Sigh…
@coolguy1999 : If you are feeling whatever VU seems to offer, just apply. Don’t get caught up on this issue. You’d have to exclude too many places being overly concerned about it, and will likely miss out on something great.
These videos by Vandy’s comedy org depict tailgates at Vandy pretty well: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q-qg36Tv11k&t=26s
so…halloween and tailgates are “the culture” at VU? Okay. I imagine it is a part of it, but probably not what OP wants to know about. Semi-funny satire videos though.
@bernie12 Just a glimpse into the culture. Vandy is less stuffy than other ‘elite’ institutions and those videos reflect that. Vandy is unique in that it is in the South, in a larger city, and a charter member of the SEC. Yes tailgating during football season is part of that culture.
@GDadwith3more : We know that, but I would be careful trying to sell that or show it off as “the culture”…you know what I mean? There are plenty of less stuffy elites (Dartmouth, Duke to name a couple…USC,UCLA, many of the elite publics) where the school nor students go out of their way to show that off too much. The person wanted to know if Greek versus other elements were at odds…hard to answer with a video satirizing the tailgate scene (the OP clearly already knows this is a thing perhaps bigger there than many other similar caliber places). It can be oversold to a detriment and then you see administrations like those at Dartmouth and Duke trying to reverse the effects through curricular reform among other things (At Dartmouth, the onus to change is more recent, whereas at Duke, they’ve always wanted to be less party culture focused and more “intellectual”, and have been at it for a while) that are perhaps harder if the student body is used to a certain social atmosphere or style of academics. Better to stick to showing off the complexity of the culture. What is propped up affects who is drawn and what that crowd was drawn to.