Student Life
A large portion of university students live off-campus, as the university is located in a large metropolitan area and has beds for less than 10% of its undergraduate population in residence halls and single student apartments. An additional 1,115 family apartments are available to students, staff, and faculty. One of the university's primary four goals for long-term campus growth is to increase student engagement through the addition of on-campus housing, intramural fields, athletic centers, and a new student activity center.
The current student activity center, the A. Ray Olpin University Union, is a common gathering place for university-wide events such as Crimson Nights, roughly monthly student activity nights; PlazaFest, a fair for campus groups at the start of the school year; and the Grand Kerfuffle, a concert at the end of the school year. The building includes a cafeteria, computer lab, recreational facilities, and a ballroom for special events. The Union also houses the Lowell Bennion Community Service Center and ASUU (the Associated Students of the University of Utah), which is responsible for appropriating funds to student groups and organizations on campus. ASUU holds primary and general elections each year for student representatives, typically with 10–15% of the student population voting.
Due to the large number of LDS Church members at the university, there is an LDS Institute of Religion building directly on campus, as well as several LDS student groups and 46 campus wards. Approximately 650 students participate in fraternities and sororities at the university, primarily located on "Greek Row" just off campus. The University of Utah has a dry campus, meaning that alcohol is banned on campus.
In 2004, Utah became the first state with a law expressly permitting concealed weapons on public university campuses. The University of Utah tried to uphold its gun ban but the Utah Supreme Court rejected the ban in 2006.
Read more about this topic: University Of Utah
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