AOL Instant Messenger profiles proudly display it. Seven Facebook groups to date exalt it. Countless cheers from Court Street and house balconies proclaim it. The Princeton Review has ranked Ohio University-Athens as the No. 2 Party School in the nation this year.
While some students use this label as a bragging right, others doubt the credibility of the survey and frown upon its implications for the university.
My friends at other schools have been jealous of the ranking and what it means
said freshman Danielle Nowicki, although she said the party school reputation has made her and her friends question the academic quality of OU.
As a tour guide, sophomore Matt Barnes often faces questions from parents pertaining to OU's party school reputation.
I don't think (the reputation) takes anything away from the great academics we have. It just says that we work hard during the week and party harder during the weekend Barnes said he tells them.
Annie Matchinga, a junior and an officer for the Facebook group I Contributed to Making OU the #2 Party School in the Nation said she finds the ranking positive. OU's reputation as a party school enhances its personality by showing that students know how to have a good time, she said.
Still, some students fear that OU's party school reputation could make their education less credible to future employers.
Whenever Kristin Agee mentions where she goes to school, the first thing out of people's mouths is that OU is a party school, she said. Agee is a 2005 OU graduate who has returned for graduate studies.
An OU graduate looking for a job should be considered equal to any other applicant, said Betsy Partyka, associate professor of modern languages.
Students get out (of their education) what they put in
she said, adding that the quality of academics is based on individual effort, which cannot be scientifically measured.
In an Associated Press report Aug. 23, University of Wisconsin-Madison Chancellor John Wiley called The Princeton Review's report junk science.
Partyka said she agrees with these arguments. The survey lacks credibility, because criteria and variables, such as the diversity of participants, are not specified.
As the administration fights OU's notoriety with stricter law enforcement and mandatory drug/alcohol-education courses such as AlcoholEdu, journalism professor Pat Washburn said the best thing the school can do is to ignore the survey.
The thing that surprises me every year is how much attention the administration pays to this
he said. It's the kind of thing they should totally ignore
and it's not worth them doing anything -it's a bogus survey. The less attention that's paid to it
the less meaning will be put on this.
Since Agee's first year at OU in 2001, she said she has not noticed a change in the party scene at OU as the university's rankings have climbed The Princeton Review's list.
There's always the big party houses, she said
crediting Halloween weekend as a major cause for the school's reputation. You always know that there's going to be a party on Mill Street.
