the south, alongside large schools like Ole Miss and Alabama. Many students are passionate outdoorsmen, and Field & Stream has called Hampden-Sydney a "hidden gem for outdoorsmen" in a list of "21 of the Best Colleges for Hunters and Anglers," where the college ranked #7. Clubs and organizations There are more than 50 clubs on campus, each of which is run by students. There are political clubs, sports clubs, religious clubs, a student-run radio station, a pep band, and multiple social fraternities. There are also volunteer groups such as Habitat for Humanity and Rotaract. The 100-year-old student newspaper, The Hampden-Sydney Tiger, has produced many prominent journalists, including Jonathan Martin of the New York Times, Chris Stirewalt of Fox News, Charles Hurt of the Washington Times, Matthew Karnitschnig, the chief Europe correspondent for Politico and a Pulitzer Prize finalist, and Matthew Phillips of CNN, who was previously an editor for Bloomberg Businessweek and Freakonomics. The college campus is home to a volunteer fire department, which provides fire suppression service and non-transport basic life support EMS to Prince Edward County and the college, as well as assisting the Farmville fire department at fires within the town limits. HSVFD, Company 2, is located on the south end of campus near the water tower and the physical plant. Contrary to popular belief, and despite its location and the fact that 90% of the membership comes from college faculty, staff, and students, the fire department is, in fact, not affiliated with the college. Union-Philanthropic Literary Society (UPLS) is the oldest student organization at Hampden–Sydney College. Established on September 22, 1789, UPLS is the nation's oldest literary and debating society still in existence today without interruption. Greek life For freshmen, rush begins in the first semester and pledging takes place in the spring. If a student chooses not to rush and/or pledge as a freshman, sophomores and juniors may pledge in the fall or spring. Roughly 47% of the student body is involved in Greek life. Beta Theta Pi used Atkinson Hall (built 1834) as a fraternity house when it came to campus in 1850 possibly making it one of the first fraternity houses in North America. However, the first fraternity house built on campus would be the Chi Phi fraternity (Epsilon Chapter) founded in 1867 at H-SC. Chi Psi is widely believed to have created the first fraternity house in 1845 at the University of