Campus culture at the University of Nevada Las Vegas is not what some would describe as “red-brick ivy-covered” traditional.
For example - many of the school’s 28,000 students commute daily rather than living in campus housing.
We don’t hear about fraternities and the lavish tailgating parties of other schools.
But the question is: So what? Do we need it?
Kanani Espinoza is the president of the Consolidated Students of UNLV. She told KNPR's State of Nevada that she feels school pride every day.
"It feels great to be a Rebel and you can see that every day," she said.
Espinoza said she sees people hanging out on campus and wearing their Rebel red all the time.
She also disagrees with the idea that the university doesn't have a strong Greek life. Espinoza said the fraternities and sororities just finished recruiting and bids for the school year and turn out was "tremendous."
She said the idea that Greek life isn't as big at UNLV is partly fueled by the lack of a Greek row, where fraternity and sorority houses sit in one area.
Dan Berrett, the senior reporter for the Chronicle of Higher Education, also said he didn't see some of the missing pieces from campus life.
"I didn't fee the deficits that you talked about in terms of the sports program, and the lack of fraternities and sororities," he said.
Although, he does agree that it is a commuter campus and has to compete with the nearby Las Vegas Strip.
Berrett believes one of the reasons UNLV doesn't have that sense of campus loyalty that other schools do, is simple because it's a young campus.
"As a fairly young institution, there is just not the generations of alumni probably that there are at the older institutions," he observed.
But he doesn't believe improving the school's sports program is the answer to changing that, noting that a large and successful football program, "can also be a double-edge sword. It can put all sorts of pressures on the academic side."
Michael Wixom, the vice chairman of the Board of Regents for the Nevada System of Higher Education, said that while UNLV doesn't have the look of other universities or the same number of students living on campus, he's not looking to change the culture.
"I don't know if I have a deep desire to be like someone else," Wixom said. "I'm not anxious to change the culture of what we have at UNLV. I'm anxious to provide more kinds of opportunities and to enhance the student-life experience."
Wixom believes UNLV is not given its due by many people outside Southern Nevada, including in school rankings especially the one that gets the most attention nationwide, the annual report by U.S. News and World Report.
Wixom cited the university's dental, law and business schools as areas of great success, but he also noted that the school is pushing to become a Tier One school in research.
"We're anxious to provide a Tier One experience for students on an undergraduate basis," he said.
As for Espinzoa, she says campus life is improving every year and she highlighted the 250 student organizations on campus that continue to flourish, "that's just making a better campus every year."
Kanani Espinoza, president, UNLV CSUN student government; Dan Berrett, senior reporter, Chronicle of Higher Education; Michael Wixom, vice chairman, Board of Regents, Nevada System of Higher Education