Experience What’s Possible
Student life at EWU is about the community, and it’s different here. People smile. They give you high fives. They want to hear your story. They want you to belong.
And that’s the way we like it.
Life at EWU
This is so much more than a degree, a campus, a red field. It’s new friendships, future relationships and collaborations that will result in something spectacular.
Compete, Improve & Play
Campus Recreation
Thousands of students take part in campus recreation each quarter. Rent equipment, get a personal trainer, go ice skating, rock climbing, participate in intramural or club sports. It’s all available for you.
Explore OfferingsEPIC Adventures
With EWU’s outdoor program, go whitewater rafting, canoeing, fishing, backpacking, hiking, ice climbing, snowboarding or XC skiing. EPIC Adventures isn’t so much a sport as it is a way of life.
Explore OfferingsStudent Services
Dean of Students
EWU Student Life seeks to encourage and empower EWU students to realize their personal and educational goals.
Student LifeNeed Support?
Report a problem, ask for help, notify your professor about an absence, or make the university aware of other concerns.
Helpful ResourcesDepartments
ASEWU, CR, CAPS, DSS, HWPS, NSTFP, PUB, SAIL, SRR, and other acronyms you'll come to know and love.
DepartmentsParticipate, Serve & Lead
Student Activities Involvement and Leadership (SAIL)
SAIL provides engagement opportunities for students to enhance, explore, and creatively shape their experience at EWU.
Clubs & Organizations
Whether its archery, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Willow Springs literary magazine or improv, you can participate in over 150 clubs and organizations.
Office of Community Engagement
Get out, help others, and discover yourself. Community engagement builds recognition, fosters support and expands opportunities for everyone as well as the communities we serve.
Career Services
Our friendly, knowledgeable staff can assist you with all aspects of your professional development: resumes, cover letters, and interviewing techniques. We want to help you transform your possibilities into reality.
EWU Traditions
Pass through the Pillars
In the days before most students had cars, trains unloaded EWU students in downtown Cheney each fall. They hauled their suitcases and bags up College Avenue to campus.
Today’s new students honor this tradition with a ceremonial stroll through the Herculean Pillars. With luggage safely stowed in their residence hall, new students exchange high-fives and cheers with all who line the path.
The pillars are built from the stones from the first campus building. When fire destroyed the building in 1912, the stones were repurposed to create the pillars.
Sledding on Dining Service Trays
This is officially frowned upon. That said, we have heard that the hill behind JFK Library is particularly great for tray sledding. Not that we’re making a recommendation. Just, you know, that we’ve heard such things.
The Kissing Rock
When students lived exclusively in single-gender housing, a rock in the middle of campus was designated the meeting place. It quickly became known as The Kissing Rock. Still on campus, the rock has been moved and is now hidden by shrubs. We suspect the hidden nature of the rock is intentional.
The Firing of the Cannon
After the Eagles score at each football game, the EWU ROTC program fires a 75mm Pack Howitzer M1 they’ve set up on a hill beside Roos Field. The area immediately surrounding the Howitzer is called Fort Savage Eagle.
The firing of the cannon is accompanied by the singing of the school fight song and, since the football team tends to score quite a few points, it’s common to lose both your hearing and your voice at a single game.
The Ringing of the Schoolhouse Bell
A historic one-room schoolhouse built in 1905 is in the center of campus. On the first day of class, EWU’s president rings the bell as a ceremonial start to the new academic year. It is rumored that no student has ever woken early enough to hear the bell ringing.
Sorority & Fraternity Life
First things first: EWU recognizes 10 fraternities and nine sororities. We’re the only regional public university in Washington that has sororities or fraternities. Several sororities and fraternities do not have chapter houses. This means you can join a fraternity or sorority without living on “Greek row.”
Sorority & Fraternity Life involves more studying and community service than you might expect. In fact, academics and community leadership are always the primary focus of EWU’s fraternities and sororities.