Everything you’ve ever wanted to know about Greek Life at HPU.

You may have been wondering about Greek life at HPU and what it’s like to be in it, or not be in it. I can share my experience as a non-Greek and tell you that no matter if you’re in Greek life or not, you WILL MAKE FRIENDS. What I saw on campus as a student, and even now, is that friendships run deep within Greek organizations, between them and beyond them.

The social side of Greek life makes up 30% of the student body, with another 20% being involved in our co-ed service fraternity. This means that Greek doesn’t overwhelm campus, but is a healthy piece of student life if you’d like to take part.

Rush is the first part of second semester as a freshman, which means that we’re going through Rush now (sororities last week and fraternities this week.) That basically means everyone’s on their best behavior and looking really sharp. There are six national sororities on campus and five fraternities, along with 4 NPHC organizations as listed below.

Sororities:

• Zeta Tau Alpha
• Alpha Gamma Delta
• Sigma Sigma Sigma
• Kappa Dleta
• Phi Mu
• Alpha Chi Omega

Fraternities:

• Pi Kappa Alpha
• Kappa Sigma
• Pi Kappa Phi
• Delta Sigma Phi
• Lambda Chi Alpha

NPHC Organizations:

• Alpha Kappa Alpha
• Delta Sigma Theta
• Kappa Alpha Psi
• Zeta Phi Beta

If none of that means anything to you, don’t worry. You’ll learn the personalities of the different groups once you’re here and you’ll have a full semester to get courses under your belt and make friends with everyone, regardless of organization.

You’ll find that the Greek organizations here on campus are SUPER involved in philanthropy efforts. Some of their major events have included things like “Step for Your Cause,” a step show hosted by the NPHC organizations to raise money for all organizations’ philanthropies, and the Zeta Tau Alpha balloon release which raises awareness for Breast Cancer Research.

You’ll also find that our Greek students are smart cookies. The average GPA of all HPU students is a 3.020, BUT the average of Greek students is a 3.110. What? Involved, smart and fun? High Point promotes itself as a place to develop the whole student and we really see that happening within these organizations.

Perhaps you’ve heard of the Greek Housing that’s new to campus this year. Uh, wow. These 1/2 million dollar homes make for wonderful hang-out spots and have enough space to accommodate several students from these different organizations. Additionally, they surround a recreational pool and are located in close proximity to the Greek Village Conference Center, available for large sorority and fraternity meetings and events.

Candace

I’ve been admitted to HPU but I’m already thinking about leaving the country.

There are a fair number of students who have already expressed interest in High Point University’s Study Abroad programs, so here are some handy factoids for any of you who are itching to get out of the country and learn abroad.

HPU Unleashed!

High Point University has a unique program called HPU Unleashed!, similar to a MayMester (but available more than just the month of May.) These trips run from two to four weeks and are available for students as early as the freshman year. Most recently, students used HPU Unleashed! to discover locations in Sweden, Germany, Italy, France, England and Guatemala. Each trip directly related to a major or field of study, with students studying health and fitness in Sweden and Shakespeare in England. Like all study abroad programs, there is a minimum GPA required for each trip and application that becomes available six months in advance of the actual departure. That means that towards the end of a student’s first semester, they can already be applying to study abroad trip in May!

Summer Abroad

Summer Abroad trips work in much the same way, with students applying up to six months ahead of time and maintaining a particular GPA to be permitted travel. The most recent trips have included destinations such as Australia, France, Italy and Spain. High Point also has footprints in Austria, Belize, Brazil, Chile, China, Costa Rica, the Czech Republic, England, Germany, Guatemala, Ireland, Japan, Peru, Scotland and South Africa. These summer trips sound exactly like what they are: you complete your fall and spring semester at HPU and then travel and pick up credit along the way for your summer!

Semester Abroad

Full Semester Abroad programs are typically available for juniors and seniors only. These trips utilize High Point’s strong partnerships with sister universities abroad to promise a comparable education for a full semester. Locations for these trips have included:

• Australia: Bond University, University of Newcastle
• Austria: University of Salzburg
• Czech Republic: Charles University
• England: St. Mary’s University College, Oxford Brookes University
• Fiji: University of South Pacific
• France: Groupe Escole Superieure de Commerce, Cours de Civilisation Française de la Sorbonne
• India: University of Hyderabad
• Italy: Studio Art Centers International, American University of Rome
• Japan: Nagasaki University of Foreign Studies
• Russia: St. Petersburg State Polytechnic University
• Scotland: University of St. Andrews
• South Africa: Stellenbosch University
• Spain: Spanish-American Institute
• Wales: Swansea University

There is one exception to the rule of saving Semester Abroad for juniors and seniors, and that’s the Faculty-in-Residence programs. For these programs, a faculty member travels along with students to carry the HPU experience oversees. Currently, these trips are available in London (Oxford Brookes University) and Prague. Any student meeting the GPA requirement may participate in these trips. Along with full Semester Abroad programs, there are some language immersion programs in countries such as Ecuador, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and Spain. Forthcoming are programs that focus on Interior Design, Music, Mathematics and the Sciences throughout locations like Africa, China and the Middle East.

Get excited! There really is a full world of opportunity! If you have questions about any of these programs or need details about getting involved, contact the Study Abroad/Experiential Learning Office at explearn@highpoint.edu.

Candace

I want my roommate picked out right now slash I already have four in mind.

We’re exactly one week away from incoming students receiving our housing questionnaire and roommate survey! On February 1, students will be able to sign into their HPU account and take one step closer to life as one of the HPU Panthers.

Here are some tips to help you better understand this process:

• Housing login information will be sent out via mail. However, students who have not yet paid their enrollment deposit won’t be able to login to the housing portal. Therefore, it’s extremely important to pay the enrollment deposit and gain access.

• The housing questionnaire and roommate survey will be available from February 1 through April 30. It is a requirement to complete both of these forms. Students will be able to login and make changes to their roommate or housing selection at any time within that window. As that information is compiled, the student life team will work to process everyone’s preferences and create a wonderful experience for each student.

• Freshmen housing options include standard, double rooms such as that found in our all male freshman dorm (Finch) and our all female dorms (McEwen, Yadkin, Wesley, North). Additionally, freshmen can live in Belk, which is the University Wellness Dorm with 24-hour quiet hours and a living/learning environment for the Communication Media Fellows and for the School of Health Science Fellows. York is the honors dorm and mimics the style of Blessing, which is also available as a deluxe option for freshmen. Freshmen can live in Millis, which is a standard dorm or the University Center (UC), which is a deluxe housing option. All that to say, there are LOTS of choices. Be sure to click on any of the underlined names to view tours and photos of that dorm.

• The housing team has a program that servers as an eHarmony for roommates. It has AMAZING satisfaction rates and I highly recommend using this to have HPU’s housing team select your roommate for you. This will expand your circle of friends and, going by statistics, make you happier with your living situation in the long run. However, if you don’t want to go this route and you just really really really really want to room with your twin sister, you can note that on your roommate survey and we’ll do everything we can to make that happen. (Unless you’re her twin brother…)

• It’s important to remember that housing priority is by application type and deposit date within that. (Early Decision students get first priority, and within that group, the students who deposited first will have the highest priority, etc.) This means that if you REALLY want to live in Blessing (which tends to fill up with Early Decision students) but you want to room with someone who didn’t apply until December and has yet to pay their deposit, you’re chances are pretty slim. The priority level of any two roommates assumes the lower priority of the two. If you’re Early Decision and wanting to room with the guy who hasn’t paid his deposit and just got accepted, you’re priority is going to match his. And then good luck getting into Blessing with that ticket. A lot of times students have to decide what’s most important: the dorm or the particular roommate. We do our absolute best to deliver on both while being fair to all students and their priority levels.

• Don’t feel like just because you click with someone on Facebook, you owe it to them to be their roommate. Some roommates do meet on Facebook and they make awesome roommates, but starting out with a sense of obligation to someone you don’t 100% know doesn’t always have a happy ending. Living together is a lot different than talking to each other online. The roommate survey will ask you tough questions you may not feel comfortable asking a buddy of yours and it uses your answers to pair you with someone who has the same lifestyle and priorities.

• When it comes time to complete the housing questionnaire, there are some dorms that you don’t see listed, like York. If you’re wanting to live in York because of Honors Housing, you’ll be notified of that separately. Instead, fill out the housing questionnaire with your other top choices, knowing that York will be a separate invitation and will override your selection if you choose. The same goes for Media Fellows and Health Sciences Fellows with Belk. If you’re selected for that program and given their housing option, the housing team will work with you at that point to change your housing options. There’s no need to mark Belk as your first choice dorm otherwise.

• The housing team will sort all preferences and make housing assignments the first week of June. At that point, you’ll know not only where you’re living for the first year of college, but who you’ll be making a lot of your memories with!

It’s an exciting time and the housing process always creates a lot of buzz among incoming freshmen. With dorms like we have at HPU, you’ll be happy and comfortable no matter where you live as you embark on this new collegiate journey!

Candace