An old cliché claims that there is no such thing as bad publicity, but for some Ohio University administrators, students and Athens city officials, the title of the nation’s “top party school” doesn’t exactly feel good.
When the news broke in August, university officials immediately took to Twitter as some students signed onto Facebook and complained that their degrees had been devalued forever. But despite the hoopla, most remain cautiously indifferent.
Many find it difficult to give the ranking much credence. A total of 122,000 students at more than 370 schools voluntarily participated in a survey on their perceptions of their own schools — meaning that, on average, fewer than 330 students were questioned at each university.
No clear assertion can be backed quantitatively, but every facet of the university and surrounding city has its own take on whether the rankings are a dubious distinction or an empty honor.
THE ADMINISTRATION
The ranking comes at a time when the number of students cited for high-risk drinking is on a downward trend.
An OU news release cited a 49 percent decrease in alcohol-related violations since 2005-06, an 8 percent decrease in self-reported high-risk drinking behavior since 2007, and an 18 percent decrease in self-reported high-risk drinking behavior in first-year students.
But even if OU seemingly has gotten a handle on binge drinking, some administrators fear the party-school rankings, which garner far more media attention then a plummeting alcohol-citation count, harms the university’s reputation. Recent graduate, they fear, might be subject to an unsettling line of questioning during job interviews.
“The implications (of the rankings) are most significant for the students,” said Ryan Lombardi, OU’s dean of students. “It’s their diplomas that are going to be hanging on their walls for the rest of their life.”
Lombardi said an incoming senior recently asked him how she should respond to questions about OU’s raucous reputation if they were to arise during a job interview.
“That’s what (students) need to be thinking about,” he said.
But not every student buys into the argument that national attention for keg stands and couch fires will devalue their degrees. Student reactions to the ranking ran the gamut from unfazed to complete embrace.
Jeseka Fuller, a junior studying health-service administration, for instance, said the ranking merely “shows that (students) are able to multitask.”
Tiffany Schlein, a senior studying global studies and Spanish, said that, though the ranking system isn’t credible, topping the list carries some perks.
“At least we can wear T-shirts that say we’re the No. 1 party school,” Schlein said.
And not all campus administrators share Lombardi’s sentiment that a high party-school ranking will devalue students’ degrees and impede their ability to find jobs.
“I think it’s probably something that is a concern we have. But as of right now, there’s no need to overreact,” said Thomas Korvas, director of OU Career Services.
Employers who recruit OU students are aware of the university’s strong academic programs, Korvas said, adding that he doubts the Princeton Review rankings will hurt students’ employment chances.
THE CITY OF ATHENS
Athens city officials, meanwhile, hold varying takes on the notorious party-school rankings — with their views swinging everywhere from angst to acceptance.
For City Council President Bill Bias, the only alarming part of OU’s party culture is the hostile mindset held by some students toward police. However, even those tensions are nothing compared to the violent tension between police and students while he was a student in the 1960s and ’70s.
“I vividly remember trying to get back to Bush Hall after being pepper-gassed, so I don’t think this is that bad,” Bias said in reference to the 1970 riots that prompted OU to shut down early.
The spring fests do pose significant challenges to the city, which foots the bill for extra police officers, cleanup and ensuring the safety of thousands of drunk college students. But, even when at its wildest, Bias questioned whether OU students party any harder than those on neighboring campuses.
“Go to OSU any weekend,” Bias said, “and they’re setting a car on fire when they lose a football game.”
The top party-school ranking might be problematic were it not for the high reputation shared by OU’s academic and extracurricular programs, Bias said, adding that the party-school rankings and subsequent media attention could, in fact, help boost enrollment.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if the Board of Trustees are high-fiving each other behind that closed door of theirs,” Bias said.
THE STUDENTS
One common criticism of the Princeton Review rankings is the simplicity of the questions posed to students who participated. Thomas Vander Ven, however, took a slightly different approach to his research.
When collecting data for his recently published book, Getting Wasted: Why College Students Drink Too Much and Party So Hard, Vander Ven focused on the rationale behind students’ alcohol tendencies rather than their guestimated levels of consumption.
His research involved a qualitative study including about 400 students. Vander Ven asked open-ended questions — such as “Why do you drink?” — in an attempt to encourage students to reflect on their habits.
Many students responded that they drink to lower inhibitions. Others reported that alcohol allows them to be their “real” selves.
The sometimes-chaotic nature of drunken escapades can be formative, particularly for a generation that grew up with carefully choreographed lives, Vander Ven said.
Literature and ad campaigns focus on the negative effects of alcohol: questionable decisions, nights spent hugging the toilet, and mornings spent nursing throbbing head pain. But Vander Ven believes that those consequences are, in fact, part of why students drink.
Drunkenness is a place people go — a place where the rules are different, people behave differently, and the standards for conduct are different, he explained.
“All of that craziness that happens — things fall apart, people fight, people cry, people get sick — that’s really part of the fun because they work together to repair these situations, which creates bonding opportunities.”
mh317008@ohiou.edu
