Villanova University
Responses from the Student Interview
From a student who identifies as Major: Undeclared
Minor: None
Student Self Identifies as: African-American Straight Male
Summary
I’m a student-athlete.
Background
Gender Identity: Male
Race/Ethnicity: African-American
Sexual Orientation: Straight
High School Experience: Public high school in Lower Merion, PA with a graduating class of about 450 students. There was a culture of going to college.
First-Generation College Student: Yes
Major: Undeclared
Minor: None
Extracurricular Activities: I’m a student-athlete.
What impact has your sport had on your experience?
It’s busy and everything I do is scheduled. There’s a lot of free time but we wake up early, have practice, then go to study hall.
Academic Experience
Can you describe the weekly coursework in your prerequisite classes?
The majority of the work is homework and preparing for tests. Except, in my Philosophy class, we’ll just go over stuff in class and we’ll have essays.
Is there anything you feel Villanova does especially well or poorly?
They offer a lot of help. The tutors we get break things down more simply than the teachers do.
How would you describe the learning environment? Is it particularly competitive or collaborative?
I feel like it’s more collaborative. Everyone works together so if you need help with something someone is willing to help.
How accessible are your professors?
They’re usually always accessible. If you need to go see them you just send them an email and they’ll let you know what times they’re available. If I have an issue in class, I’ll usually go to the tutor first, and sometimes the professor if I didn’t understand it from the tutor.
What has been your favorite part of Villanova academically?
Probably the amount of extra help. It makes the process much easier. [See Villanova’s tutoring services here.]
How was managing both your sport and coursework?
With my sport, everything is usually done in the morning. We have practice and workouts, so once I’m done with practice in the morning I’ll go straight to class. I think it’s easier to manage because once my sport is done in the morning I have more time to focus on school.
Reasons to Attend
1) It’s a community so you’ll always have friends around.
2) The [academic] help they give you is good, so you’ll always have it if you need it.
3) The sports games are always a good experience.
Reasons Not to Attend
1) The nightlife and knowing you’ll have to be in a fraternity to go out if you can’t get into a bar.
2) If you’re a minority, come in prepared knowing it’ll be a majority White and wealthy people. [The student population is 74% White. Socioeconomically, 43% of students come from the top 5%.]
Around Campus
Where have you lived on campus?
Freshman: Stanford Hall with one roommate
How do you like going to school so close to your hometown?
I like it because I can see my family more. If I need to wash my clothes, I can just call my mom and she’ll pick them up, or if I need something for my dorm they’ll drop it off. I can go home whenever I want to.
Can you describe the level of safety you’ve experienced on and around campus?
I think it’s very safe.
Social Opportunities
What kind of nightlife or weekend activities do you like to participate in?
We usually hang out in our dorm then we’ll go to a fraternity party or somewhere in Philadelphia. We’ll go to other schools like Temple University or The University of Pennsylvania. Sometimes the sports teams will have something too.
As a guy not in a fraternity, is it easy to get into the fraternity parties?
Sometimes it’s hard and sometimes it’s easy. It depends on the night or if you’re close with a lot of the guys in the fraternity.
What is the impact of Greek life on the nightlife?
It’s very impactful. For a regular student that doesn’t play a sport or anything, if you’re not in a fraternity it’s hard for you to go out. If a fraternity party isn’t that appealing one night we might go to Temple or somewhere else. [About 19% of men join fraternities and 39% of females join sororities.]
What’s an alternative to going to a party or a bar that you like for a night out?
We’ll probably just stay in the dorms and hang out with the guys.
How happy are you with the weekend activities or nightlife at Villanova? Is there anything you would change if you could?
I wish there were more options than just fraternity parties. I wish there were more parties where everyone was welcome.
Campus Culture
How did you meet your closest friends?
The majority of them are my teammates. I meet some of the regular students around campus.
How would you describe the overall social scene at Villanova?
I’d say it’s really cliquey. Since the school is small, people are also linked together. People have their own clique and don’t really move away from it that much.
To what extent do people of different races and sexual orientations mix socially?
It depends on where you’re from. The people from the inner-city area stay together. Some people are more open to meeting new people, it just depends on the character you have. The majority of people are open to meet others. It’s not that common to see diverse groups of friends around campus. [The undergraduate population is 5% Black, 74% White, 6% Asian, and 8% Hispanic.]
How would you describe the student body?
They’re all welcoming. If you go in with an open mindset, you’ll be accepted.
To what extent do athletes and non-athletes mix socially?
It usually happens when we’re just hanging out in the dorms. I split it up and have a couple of friends who aren’t athletes. The majority of the time they just hang out with their teammates.
To what extent do people in Greek life and not in Greek life mix socially?
Not really. The majority of the time they stick to their Greek life friends.
How would you describe the African-American community on campus? How strong is it?
There aren’t a lot of people so we like to stick together. We are also open to hanging out with students of other races too. When I was with my teammates we’ll always be together, and my team is mostly African-American.
How do you like the size of Villanova in terms of undergraduate enrollment? How has it impacted your experience? [Villanova has about 6,500 undergraduates.]
It’s pretty small so I know the majority of people on campus. We’re all close together so I always see people I know walking to campus.