Patrick Henry College - Student Life

Student Life

As of November 2006, the Student Life Department is presided over by Administrative Dean for Student Life, Sandra Corbitt, and falls under the authority of the Provost. The college has many rules of behavior typical of conservative, religious colleges. Students may not have sex outside of marriage, or use alcohol or tobacco while under the authority of the college, which is defined as any time during a semester while enrolled, on or off campus. Men and women are not allowed in each other's dorm rooms, and underclassmen are subject to a curfew. Firearms are prohibited on campus. The college has a number of traditions rooted in dorm life, including "bobtisms" — a portmanteau of Baptism and "Lake Bob", in which newly-engaged males are dunked. All dorm activities are subject to the discretion of the men's and women's Resident Directors.

Students are active in multiple campus clubs including the College Republicans, Eden Troupe (which produces regular stage dramas), the Streaming Media Network (which produces student films), and several philosophical and literary societies.

In the 2000s Hanna Rosin, author of God's Harvard, said that "never would you find a group of better-behaved teenagers than on the campus of Patrick Henry." During that period many Patrick Henry students made fun of Bob Jones University, which Rosin described as having "the gold standard of vice patrol." Rosin commented that "by most people's standards," Patrick Henry "was not far behind" Bob Jones.