Class of 2024 students take a selfie at their commencement ceremony, as photographed on May 10, 2024. (Photo courtesy of Vanderbilt University)
While the individual paths that different members of the Class of 2024 were unique, there were some common trends in how Vanderbilt’s latest graduates spent their time.
SEXUAL ACTIVITY
IN NON-RESIDENTIAL BUILDINGS
Over three-quarters of the graduating class reported that they have had sex, while a quarter have not. As far as where students were having sex, 27% noted that they had had sex in a non-residential building on Vanderbilt’s campus.
EXCLUSIVE RELATIONSHIPS
As far as relationships go, almost half of the respondents said they had been in one exclusive relationship during their time at Vanderbilt, with two relationships also being a common trend at 17% of respondents. However, involvement in more than two exclusive relationships was rare for the class.
“I think there’s possibly less committed relationships at Vanderbilt than at other universities I’ve seen or heard about potentially because of the smaller student body population size,” Avani Putcha (‘24) said.
DATING APPS
Hinge and Tinder appear to be the most-used dating apps among graduates. However, 45% of respondents did not use dating apps at Vanderbilt, which some students attributed to preexisting relationships.
ALCHOHOL/MARIJUANA
IN GREEK LIFE
Many members of the class of 2024 used alcohol and marijuana, but alcohol was much more widely used, with only 7.6% of respondents reporting to never consuming it compared to 51% reporting to have never used marijuana. However, frequent substance users (four or more times a week) were more common with marijuana, 6.8%, than alcohol, 3%.
“I don’t think [Vanderbilt’s] alcohol culture is bad by any means, but it is a little harder to be social and integrate with a lot of different groups of people without alcohol being involved. But at least in my experience, I don’t think there’s much peer pressure,” said Tejit Pamidi (‘24).
When compared to students who were not affiliated, those who did participate in Greek life were more likely to use alcohol and marijuana and also typically used more frequently.
DRUG USE
IN GREEK LIFE
In the class of 2024, the majority of students never used any of the listed recreational drugs. However, among those who did, Psilocybin (shrooms) and Adderall were the most common, with cocaine not far behind.
While the difference in drug use between students in and outside Greek life is marginal, there is a small overall increase of 5.5% among Greek life participants. This increase is visible across all the listed drugs, with the exception of LSD and Oxy.
FAKE IDS
As far as fake identification goes, 55% of respondents said they owned a fake ID during their time at Vanderbilt, while the rest did not. Connecticut, Illinois, Ohio and Pennsylvania were the most common states on fake IDs.
PARTYING
Over half of 2024 graduates partied one day per week, but it was very uncommon for students to spend more than three days per week partying or clubbing. Vanderbilt’s party culture was often associated with Greek life and also socializing with friends more broadly.
“As a student-athlete at Vanderbilt, I was fortunate to have an automatic friend group through my team, but I made a point to socialize with the entire Vanderbilt community,” Mimi Ming (‘24) said. “Being a member of a sorority allowed me to engage with Greek life as well. While I did participate in parties, they weren’t the central focus of my college experience, as I balanced them with my academic and athletic commitments.”