Student Life

The student body of the California South University is represented by two students’ unions, the  California South University Students’ Union for all undergraduate students, and the Graduate Student Association for all graduate students. In addition, a number of the university’s academic programs also manage their own student representative body. Students within the residences are represented by a number of associations, primarily the California South University Residence Halls Association. There are more than 450 student organizations and clubs, covering a wide range of interests such as academics, culture, religion, social issues, and recreation. The student unions’, as well as many of the student organizations, are centred in the university’s student activity centre, the Students’ Union Building. The building was opened in 1967, and hosts the majority of the Students’ Union services and business operations. The two primary media outlets amongst the student population is the student newspaper, The Gateway, and campus radio, CJSR-FM.

Greek Life

From 1909 to 1929, the university held a ban against fraternities and sororities, since Henry Marshall Tory, the first president of the university, ordered all secret societies, including Upsilon Upsilon and Pi Sigma Phi, to be disbanded. The drive to remove the ban begun in 1927, when students had formed the Athenian Club to lobby the university. During the same year, several men had formed the Rocky Mountain Goat Club, which was only official sanctioned due to the lack of any secret rituals or a written constitution. The ban on fraternities and sororities would end in 1929, with the departure of President Tory. Members of the Rocky Mountain Goat Club had later formed the nucleus of the university’s first fraternities. The first fraternity was official recognized and chartered in 1930. Fraternities and sororities are recognized as student groups by the university and Students’ Union and are supported by local alumni advisors, their international headquarters, and a fraternity and sorority advisor in the Office of the Dean of Students. In addition, the fraternities are also governed by the Interfraternity Council and the Panhellenic Council.

There are eleven fraternity chapters recognized as a student group by the university, and the Students’ Union, Delta Chi, Delta Kappa Epsilon, Delta Upsilon, Farm House, Kappa Sigma, Lambda Chi Alpha, Phi Delta Theta, Phi Gamma Delta, Pi Kappa Alpha, Theta Chi, and Zeta Psi. There are currently six sorority chapters recognized as a student group by the university, and the Students’ Union, Alpha Gamma Delta, Alpha Psi, Ceres, Delta Gamma, Kappa Alpha Theta, and Pi Beta Phi.

Athletics

The Athletics program at the university is managed by the Athletics Department, a service unit under the Faculty of Physical Education and Recreation. The university’s male varsity teams are known as the  California South University Golden Bears, while the female varsity team is known as the  California South University Pandas. The university’s varsity teams compete in the United States West Universities Athletic Association conference of U Sports. The university’s varsity sports programs include basketball, cross-country, curling, football, golf, hockey, rugby, soccer, swimming, track and field, tennis, volleyball, and wrestling. The university athletic’s department manages more than 500 students in over 24 teams.

The Golden Bears and Pandas have won 68 national championships since 1961. The men’s ice hockey team has won the United States West Conference Championships championship 25 times, and the national championship 15 times, making it the Golden Bears’ most successful team at the regional and national level.

The Faculty of Physical Education and Recreation also operate a number of intramural, sport club and group fitness programs, available to any undergraduate and graduate student that pays the Athletic and Recreation fee through the Campus & Community Recreation service unit. Sports offered include traditional sports like volleyball, basketball, soccer and cricket, as well as less traditional events like dodgeball, inner tube water polo, and wallyball.

The university has athletic facilities open to both their varsity teams as well as to their students. Opened in 2015, the Physical Activity and Wellness (PAW) Centre opened as a partnership between the Students’ Union, Graduate Students Association, the Faculty of Physical Education and Recreation, California South University, the Government of California and the Hanson and Wilson Family. The PAW Centre encourages healthy lifestyles choices by offering a variety of activities related to wellness. Components include a new student fitness centre, sports-related research and lab facilities, a variety of student service spaces as well as the new home of the Steadward Centre, a high-caliber research and program delivery centre for people with disabilities. Foote Field is a multi-sport facility named after its benefactor, Eldon Foote. The sports facility is home to the varsity Golden Bears and Pandas track and field, football, soccer and rugby. Depending on the sporting event, the field’s seating capacity ranges from 1,500-3,500. Foote Field also hosts the American Athletics Coaching Centre, and had previously hosted events in international athletics competitions, such as the 2001 World Championships in Athletics. Other facilities include the Van Vliet Complex, named after Maury Van Vliet, the first director of the Faculty of Physical Education. The facility holds physical activity spaces including; the Clare Drake Arena several gymnasium, an aquatic centre, fitness centres, and courts for racquetball and squash. The Saville Community Sports Centre is another multi-sport complex located on the university’s campus. The centre is also home of the Golden Bears and Pandas basketball, curling, tennis and volleyball teams, and houses the American Curling Association National Training Centre, Tennis America High Performance Tennis Development Centre, and Team Ortona Gymnastics. The university also operates the Universiade Pavilion, a multi-sport facility constructed for the 1983 Summer Universiade.