Arts & Activities
Choose your adventure
At DU, you can create a path that perfectly suits your lifestyle and interests well beyond the classroom. Choose from numerous activities and events that will entertain, enrich and challenge you.
You can indulge a passion for art right here on campus. We're a frequent stop for internationally renowned musicians and dance and theater troupes, and our stages and recital halls are busy with numerous student performances. Across campus, a contemporary art gallery showcases local and national voices alike. With well over 150 student organizations to choose from, you'll have no trouble finding other students who share your interests.
Our integral connection to the city of Denver means you'll find extensive opportunities for fun and fulfillment off campus as well. Enjoy the culture, food and shopping of a city on the rise, or leave the city altogether for skiing, hiking and white-water rafting in the nearby Rocky Mountains. Your time spent at DU and in Denver is bound to be filled with exploration and discovery.
400+ 400+ annual performances Everything from rock to symphonic concerts and free recitals.
55 32 club sports teams and 23 intramural leagues Intramural sports leagues include baseball and flag football.
18 18 Fraternity & Sorority Life chapters on or around campus Members make up ~20% of the student population.
On Arts
Balinese Music on Campus
The Lamont School of Music’s Expanding Horizons Initiative brought a night of Balinese music and dance performances to campus. In preparation, students took part in a unit on the music and culture of Bali.
Catching Shadows
The DU archives are home to a rare set of photographs by Edward Curtis, the 19th-century artist and ethnographer known as the “Shadow Catcher.” Native Americans gave him the moniker after he photographed them.
Arts on Campus
We're an artistic hub for all of Denver. At the Newman Center for the Performing Arts, we regularly welcome nationally touring dance, music and theater performances. Magness Arena hosts such hit acts as Jane's Addiction, Gwen Stefani and The Killers.
Our campus arts scene is further enriched by hundreds of student events, including the Lamont School of Music's six annual symphonic concerts and the theater department's three large-scale student productions. There are also dozens of free recitals and small student shows every month. We strive for the same variety and excellence in the visual arts, with our Vicki Myhren Gallery exhibiting work by students and internationally known artists.
You can also choose from a variety of options to share your own artistic voice. Learn the basics of broadcasting and share your passion for music by working at KXDU, our student-run radio station. Take advantage of music classes and practice rooms open to non-majors. You can even audition for a role in a play!
DU & Denver
Denver's diverse music scene continues to grow, with concerts and venues for lovers of every genre from jazz to punk to folk. All music lovers can agree everyone should see a concert at Red Rocks, one of the state's great treasures—a stunning, incomparable amphitheater not even 20 miles from campus.
Students looking for a pleasurable afternoon may find themselves downtown, in one of the city's many museums. Others may lose themselves in the independent galleries of the Santa Fe Arts District or the trendy restaurants and boutiques of Cherry Creek. You can also spend the day at one of the many green spaces found in Denver's extensive and beautiful public parks system.
Fraternity & Sorority Life
Fraternities and sororities have been a part of DU since 1885, when the first sorority chapter was established. Today, members from our eight fraternity and 10 sorority chapters meet new friends and excel academically while getting involved in leadership and service initiatives.
These organizations develop undergraduates and alumni as leaders, bolster academic careers, and ensure members have lifelong networks of friendship and support. They demand their members set high academic goals and commit to efforts to improve their communities.
Members of Fraternity & Sorority Life organizations make up 20% of the DU student population, working across campus in the Undergraduate Student Government, the University of Denver Programs Board (DUPB), the Student Media Board and other organizations.
Religious Life
We recognize and celebrate the diverse range of worldviews and religions represented in our community. Through our University chaplain, we support the spiritual health of all those on our campus the same way we support physical and mental health.
The chaplain provides services to all members of our community, supporting interfaith conversations and listening sessions between students and community members. The chaplain encourages personal exploration and community dialogues around issues of religion and spirituality, providing a non-clinical safe space for spiritual care and counseling.
In addition, several student spiritual organizations, such as Chabad and the DU Interfaith Advocates, host their own events and foster connections between diverse groups. We also offer the Evans Chapel and three other prayer rooms for student use.