Student Clubs & Activities

The university actively encourages and supports students’ interests and activities. At the start of each academic year, surveys are carried out to find out what these interests may be. Students are invited to submit proposals for new events and activities.

Many clubs are formed to focus on a range of interests, from chess and basketball, to film and literature. There is also a CEU debating society which in previous years has gone on to the European Universities Debating Championship.

CEU supports a Student Activity Fund that enables students to receive support for clubs and activities up to 500 EUR per project. If you wish to apply please fill in the Application Form.

In previous years, there have been a huge number of activities from theater and opera visits, to dance classes and ice skating parties. CEU has two sports centers, organizing aerobics, yoga classes, and tournaments.

CEU provides support for student debates, national and cultural holidays, food-tastings, or parties. There is also an exhibition space within the university showcasing the art of CEU students.

List of registered clubs and groups:

CEU Students Run for Cancer Research in Hungary

Forty CEU Students, sponsored by Student Life Office, participated on September 10 in the annual Charity Run for Cancer Research in Hungary (formerly known as the Terry Fox Run).

The event was organized by the "Fuss a Rakkutatasert" Cancer Foundation in Hungary. This was the sixth time CEU took part in this event, which drew more than one thousand athletes in the Puskas Ferenc Stadium.

All students finished the two kilometers distance within a short time, and given the optimal weather circumstances some even decided to run an additional lap.

Activities in Academic Year 2010-2011

CEU Students participate in mini marathon

Sixty CEU students, led by VP Student Services Peter Johnson, participated on September 26 in the Fun Run, as part of the 25th Budapest Marathon. Despite the rainy weather all runners were in very good mood and finished the 3.5 km without any difficulty. Some have already agreed to sign up for the 7 km distance next year.

CEU Debate Society

In October 2010, alumna Maja Nenadovic offered a series of workshops in public speaking, British Parliamentary debate and argumentation. Some 50 students took part in these trainings. Once they were finished, a small group of enthusiasts decided to organize the CEU Debating Society. Debates will take place on weekly basis, as students will prepare to hold a small internal CEU tournament.

The Belgrade Open, one of the biggest, most competitive, and most fun tournaments in the region, ran from February 25th to 28th. Two teams and three judges represented CEU. Zach Israel (Bard Exchange Program) and Usha Sahay (Bard Exchange Program) took 16th place among 56 teams, and were on the verge of breaking to the semifinals because of excellent speaker results (17th for Zach and 22nd for Usha, out of 112 total speakers). James Poplasky (Business School) and Ioana Olariu (Business School) placed 42nd, a great first showing. Maja Nenadovic (Political Science alumna), Anny Stoikova (Legal Studies) and Srdjan Bejakovic (Economics) served as judges. We congratulate our debaters on their performance at such a big venue - this is a big success and a great experience for a beginning debating team!

3 CEU students participated in the first international debate tournament in Vienna, held between March 4th and 6th. Ana Gurau (Public Policy) and Zach Israel (Bard Exchange Program) teamed up and took 28th place out of 44 teams, while James Poplasky (Business School) and Zsuzsa Papp (ELTE, Psychology) were 34th. It's a wonderful opportunity to have so many international debate tournaments in the neighborhood of Budapest, and we're happy to see that CEU debaters are taking advantage of this. In just two weeks, they have put CEU on the debating map of Europe.

On Saturday, March 26th, the CEU debate club organized an internal tournament to select four debaters to represent CEU at the European University Debate Championship, to be held in Galway, Ireland in August. 10 CEU debaters participated in the competition: Anny Stoikova (Legal Studies), Dima Vavriv (Business School), Srdjan Bejakovic (Economics), Zachary Israel (Bard Exchange Program), Usha Sahay (Bard Exchange Program), James Poplasky (Business School), Anna Marupova (Sociology), Ioana Olariu (Business School), Ana Gurau (Public Policy), and Gedion Hessebon (Legal Studies). Special thanks goes to the expert team of judges who came from far and wide to adjudicate the debates: Milan Vignjevic and Selena Torlakovic (Serbia); Julia Mikic (Croatia); Zsuzsa Papp (Hungary); and Radu Cotarcea (Romania). Srdjan, Zach, Usha, and James were the top four debaters, and they will get a chance to compete at the biggest and most prestigious debate tournament in Europe. We wish them good luck!

For information about the CEU Debating Society, please contact: Maja Nenadovic, majanenadovic(at)gmail.com

CEU Care for the Homeless Project

A group of students from the Central European University witnessing the problem of homelessness in the city of Budapest have decided to do something to help the under privileged. They started a project in March 2011 and received 500 EURO financial support from the CEU's 20th Anniversary Fund. You can find out more about the group and their achievements by visiting their page at: https://sites.google.com/site/ceuhomeless/home