Worcester Polytechnic Institute - Student Life

Student Life

WPI is host to a number of annual and weekly events. These events usually only attract students, though some events, such as Gaming Weekend and Quadfest, are large enough to draw in off-campus visitors. Some are listed below in order of occurrence.

• Homecoming – sponsored by the Office of Alumni Relations, this fall event brings numerous alumni back to campus to celebrate the past, present, and future of the University.
• Gaming Weekend – A bi-annual three-day event hosted by the SFS that revolves around games of all sorts: board games, RPGs, video games, and even "Duck, Duck, Goose." It usually takes place around Labor Day weekend and the first weekend of D term. The SFS has a burgeoning stock of various games in a library at the basement of Riley Hall allowing for such an event to take place.

• Tuesday Dance Socials – Every week, the Social Dance Club takes over the Campus Center stage from 7:00 pm to 12:00 am. A variety of music is played for dancers to break out their moves to Argentine tango, Salsa, Swing, and Discofox, among other dances. Socialization is promoted through the media of dance as well as conversation.
• Greek Week – An annual week-long event that begins the week prior to homecoming. Each of the Greek houses compete in several events that include but are not limited to: Capture the flag, water balloon toss, talent show competition, and a float parade on the morning of homecoming.
• Saturday Night Gaming – A weekly video game night hosted by the Game Development Club. Games include Rock Band, Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Dance Dance Revolution, and others. Members of the WPI Pokémon Trainers League also meet and play Pokémon games together. Games are located in the Taylor and Chairman's Room on the first floor of the Campus Center.
• Weekend Movies – Hosted by SocComm's Films committee. Every Saturday and Sunday, a new film is shown on the WPI campus in Fuller Laboratoires weeks prior to its DVD release. The projection of these movies is handled by LnL. WPI is one of the few universities capable of showing both 35 mm film and 70 mm film in the same hall.
• Penny Wars – Created and operated by Alpha Chi Rho, Penny Wars is an annual fund raiser where clubs and Greek organizations on campus compete to raise money for charity. The goal is to collect the most pennies, however, any money other than pennies counts against your score. Most of the money raised is from competing clubs offsetting the competition with dollars or larger denominations, since it all goes to charity.

• Costume! Dance! Party! – An annual event held by the Game Development Club. The event falls near Halloween, and includes a costume contest, over 100 pounds of free candy, and many giveaways.
• Winter Carnival – Another event hosted by WPI's Social Committee (SocComm), this event is a week long grouping of smaller events, ending in a major event (such as a concert or a well known performer).
• Service Auction – Alpha Phi Omega asks the students, faculty, and staff to donate services such as baking a pie, horseback riding, or building a sandcastle and then auctions them off to the student body and surrounding community. The person who donated the highest bid item then selects a charity where all of the raised funds are donated.
• Diya – An annual celebration of the Indian festival Diwali, hosted by WPI's Indian Student Organization (ISO). Diya usually features performances of Indian songs, Bollywood dances, skits, and other events signifying Indian culture, with Indian food served at dinner.
• Dragon Night – An annual celebration, generally meant to tie into Chinese New Year, hosted by WPI's Chinese Student Association (CSA). Dragon Night usually features Chinese food, lion dancing, and other elements of Chinese culture.

• Quadfest – The largest event held on campus by the WPI Social Committee (SocComm). It takes place during the final week of the WPI school year. Events include musical acts, movies, and special booths created by WPI clubs and organizations. Information about past Quadfest events can be found in the QuadFest Archives.
• WPI Talent and Fashion Show – Beginning in 2007, the National Society of Black Engineers chapter combined their 7th annual Fashion Show and 3rd annual Talent Show into a single event. The Talent Show part gives every WPI student an opportunity to showcase their talent to each other, and the Fashion show is meant to promote professionalism and how to dress for success, tying into the core purpose of the NSBE.
• Winter Ball – A ballroom dance social hosted by WPI's Ballroom Dance Team during the winter where couples in evening wear can learn and dance ballroom dances such as Waltz, Foxtrot, ChaCha, and Rumba in Alden Memorial.
• Wall of Sound – This event is hosted annually by the Lens and Lights Club. It consists of about 70,000 Watts worth of speakers blasting music over 120dB volumes. For the price of $1, students can get a song of their choice to be played. Proceeds benefit a local charity.
• Comedy Festival – A formerly biennial, now annual, comedy festival hosted by WPI's Student Comedy Productions (SCP) at the end of the academic year, first produced in 2002. A several-day event showcasing the comedic talents of college students both inside and outside WPI, the festival has featured the school's three comedy troupes, KILROY Sketch Comedy, Guerilla Improv, and {Empty Set} as well as collegiate and alumni comedy groups from across New England.
• New Voices – An annual play festival produced by WPI Masque and the Department of Humanities and Arts in the middle of D-Term. The festival features original, unproduced works submitted each January and voted on by a collective of dramaturgs. First run in 1983, New Voices is the longest-running annual collegiate new works festival in the world, and has produced over 400 plays written by over 200 students, alumni, faculty, and members of the WPI community.

Thirty percent of the undergraduate students participate in Greek Life. There are 13 fraternities and 5 sororities at WPI. There is also one co-ed community service fraternity, Alpha Phi Omega. See the List of WPI fraternities and sororities.