-PJ
Posted on 08/08/2011 8:43:23 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
Ohio University, set in an Appalachian town known for its rowdy Halloween bashes, has been named the nation's No. 1 party school, pushing the University of Georgia down a slot in the 2011 Princeton Review survey released Monday.
Rounding out the top five are No. 3 University of Mississippi, No. 4 University of Iowa and No. 5 University of California Santa Barbara.
This year's student survey found that, overall, California does not know how to party. UC Santa Barbara was the only school in California to make the top 20 list.
The Princeton Review survey is part of its 2012 edition of "The Best 376 Colleges," which includes rankings in 62 categories. More than 122,000 students were questioned for the party survey.
Brigham Young University in Utah won the honor of top stone-cold sober school for the 14th straight year. Several military academies also made the stone-cold sober list's top 20, including No. 4 U.S. Coast Guard Academy in New London, Conn., and No. 5 U.S. Military Academy in West Point, NY.
Ohio University's party reputation has long vexed administrators at the riverside school of about 20,000 students, and policies have been beefed up over the years in an attempt to reduce student drinking.
Among efforts are strong anti-drinking messages at freshmen orientations, tougher penalties on students for alcohol violations and added surveillance during the Halloween street party, which is not sanctioned by the university.
The campus in Athens, about 65 miles southeast of Columbus, has made the party school list 12 times since 1997.
"We take seriously our responsibility to help our students succeed in all facets of their experience, including addressing high-risk behavior," Dean of Students Ryan Lombardi said in a statement Monday. "We are disappointed in the party school ranking as it is not indicative of the overall experience of Ohio students and does not match the data we have collected."
In formal complaints regarding violations of Ohio's student code of conduct, about 60 percent are listed as alcohol-related in recent academic years, according to statistics posted online by the University Judiciaries, the school's disciplinary division. In 2010-2011, 1,213 complaints, making up 59 percent of the total, involved alcohol, the numbers show.
The Halloween revelry dates to the 1970s and typically attracts at least 20,000 people to downtown Athens streets. Arrests and citations during the party, mostly for alcohol and disorderly conduct violations, have at times reached more than 200 in recent years.
The event spun out of control in 2003, when then-Athens Police Chief Rick Mayer called the bash "the worst event to date" after rioting partiers lit couches on fire, started fights and threw bottles at officers and firefighters.
Besides the party list, Ohio also lands in the top 20 in several other Princeton Review categories this year, including lots of beer and lots of hard liquor, as well as best athletic facilities, most beautiful campus and major fraternity and sorority scene.
The guide's rankings are based on email surveys voluntarily filled out by 122,000 students at more than 370 colleges across the country. On average, about 325 students from each campus respond, and university administrators often call the rankings unscientific and say they glorify dangerous behavior.
The Princeton Review, not affiliated with Princeton University, is a Massachusetts-based company known for its test preparation courses educational services and books.
It has put out its best colleges guide since 1992. The nation's top party schools and top stone-cold sober schools:
Party schools
1. Ohio University, Athens, Ohio
2. University of Georgia, Athens, Ga.
3. University of Mississippi, Oxford, Miss.
4. University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa
5. University of California Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, Calif.
6. West Virginia University, Morgantown, W. Va.
7. Penn State University, University Park, Pa.
8. Florida State University, Tallahassee, Fla.
9. University of Florida, Gainesville, Fla.
10. University of Texas, Austin, Texas
11. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
12. Syracuse University, Syracuse, N.Y.
13. Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, La.
14. University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wis.
15. DePauw University, Greencastle, Ind.
16. Indiana University, Bloomington, Ind.
17. Arizona State University, Tempe, Ariz.
18. University of Maryland, College Park, Md.
19. University of Vermont, Burlington, Vt.
20. University of South Carolina, Columbia, S.C.
Stone-cold sober schools
1. Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah
2. Wheaton College, Wheaton, Ill.
3. Wesleyan College, Macon, Ga.
4. U.S. Coast Guard Academy, New London, Conn.
5. U.S. Military Academy, West Point, N.Y.
6. U.S. Naval Academy, Annapolis, Md.
7. Calvin College, Grand Rapids, Mich.
8. Grove City College, Grove City, Pa.
9. Pepperdine University, Malibu, Calif.
10. City University of New York - Brooklyn College, Brooklyn, N.Y.
11. The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, New York, N.Y.
12. U.S. Merchant Marine Academy, Kings Point, N.Y.
13. U.S. Air Force Academy, Colorado Springs, Colo.
14. Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering, Needham, Mass.
15. City University of New York - Queens College, Flushing, N.Y.
16. Thomas Aquinas College, Santa Paula, Calif.
17. University of Dallas, Irving, Texas
18. Agnes Scott College, Decatur, Ga.
19. College of the Ozarks, Point Lookout, Mo.
20. Gustavus Adolphus College, Saint Peter, Minn.
-PJ
Nice touch with the old school logo.
Bad enough we had to lose to FSU last year, but to have them ahead of us as a party school......no way.
hoddy toddy gosh almighty
who in the hell are we...HEY!!!
flim flam, bim bam
OLE MISS BY DAMN!!!
Well, at least you’ve made the top 20 of something this year! lol
Whoooo Pigs! Sooie!
“16. Thomas Aquinas College, Santa Paula, Calif.”
I went to ESU, so no problem there, but man, how can ANYONE go to a school with that name. It sounds more a place to get to know your horse more intimately.
The SEC had Five schools in the top twenty. We need to go for all twelve. We can be number one in this to.
LOL! That's not the "old" school logo. That's "my" school logo!
I still have some plastic soda cups from the football games in my kitchen cabinets.
-PJ
It will never happen as long as Mississippi State is in the conference. Starkville, MS, aka Starkghanistan = The Town that Fun Forgot.
UC Santa Barbara used to have amazingly epic Halloween parties. One year, a group of us went to one of the local medical facilities in Goleta and ‘borrowed’ some gowns and a wheel chair for our costumes (nope, no undergarments beneath the gowns) and hopped from party to party until we couldn’t even stand up any more. Further details are not appropriate for this forum.
I wouldn’t send anyone to college these days.
The Greatest School on Earth, Florida State University at #8......slackers. Sheesh, when I was there was got the NUMBER ONE recognition.....what has happened to my wonderful school. lol.
FSU 1991. The greatest school on Earth.
Gonna lose to FSU again this year too..;0)
Get your licks in this season, because next season, we’re right back on top.
Yep. It looks good for FSU granted Jumbo can keep his kids illness from distracting his coaching.
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