In early years, the college community was famous for Friday-afternoon sherry hours and afternoon croquet matches on the quad, suggesting that "l'esprit de Santa Cruz" was not far from that of Oxbridge.

Although designed as a traditional dormitory with a centralized dining hall, Porter soon gained a reputation befitting their artistic background by staging outrageously bohemian parties, including Halloween, "Step on My Face", "The End" (initially understood as "The End of the World," but also in response to the changing of the name of the college from College Five to Porter, later revised to "The End of the School Year," or "The Edge of the World," and now "Porterpalooza"), and, for a time, a parodistic Prom ("for all those who missed their High School Proms").

While personnel surveillance is strong in the dormitory and adjoining quad area, rarely do CSOs or RAs patrol the Porter Meadow.

Consequently, the Porter meadow is the primary spot for students smoking, drinking, or making noise in moderate to large groups.

UCSC has also forced this break from reputation through stricter regulation and disciplinary action involving event planning, noise, lewdness, and drug policies.

CREs live in the dormitory buildings and are responsible for discipline following campus policy violations as well as offering assistance and guidance to Porter students.

Just to the south of Porter is a signature campus art piece, a large red abstract sculpture which has been endlessly portrayed on UCSC's promotional literature.

Fridays during the hot months of the year, Porter hosts its "Patio Party", inviting students across campus to enjoy BBQ, "mocktails" and music.