hmmm...i'm scratchin my noggin over this one...bein that i've lived on campus there for the past two years, and it's been weaker each consecutive year, i'm gonna have to go ahead and disagree on this one...granted, yes we get bent as fuck, but i've been to a few other schools, and each ones cool in it's own way...now, if this ratin is based on number of arrests for drugs and alcohol, then yes, we might take the cake, but accordin to usa today, it's based on surveys by students asked about drinkin, drugs, studying, etc...don't get me wrong though, if you're ever in the region, hit up bloomington, and holler at your boy
Indiana University Ranked Top Party School
- Thread starter Naptown317
- Start date
from todays usa today
http://www.usatoday.com/life/2002-10-10-party-school_x.htm
By Craig Wilson, USA TODAY
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — It's Saturday night and the Hump Room upstairs at Nick's is jumping.
Andrea Moore, a senior at Indiana University, is playing "Sink the Bismarck," a drinking game. And she's losing, which means she's having to down glasses of beer a bit more regularly than her friends. She doesn't appear to be at all bothered by that.
She's also not bothered by the news that IU has been named the No. 1 party school in the nation. In fact, she doesn't really believe it. (Related story: Princeton Review's top 10 party schools.)
"I still don't think it's any different here than any other school," she says.
The Princeton Review thought differently. The dubious distinction was a surprise to both students (it didn't even make the list last year) and university president Myles Brand, who called the ranking "absurd."
Even so, it's not that hard to find a party or a busy bar on any given night in this college town.
Maybe it was sheer luck, or just good old Hoosier hospitality. Or maybe the school really lives up to its reputation. But a mere one hour and 23 minutes after arriving on campus Friday afternoon, a total stranger was invited to an off-campus party.
The invitation came from Brandon Pusey, an affable curly-haired (think Justin on American Idol) junior from Monticello, Ind., who was handing out leaflets at Indiana's Memorial Union for the Full Frontal Comedy show that night at Roly Poly, a local hangout.
"Come afterward, too!" he said. "We're having a house party. It'll be cool."
Sure enough, 12 hours later — at 1 a.m. — the total stranger was standing in the living room of Pusey's Washington Street group house as two beer kegs were carried up the front steps and rolled into the kitchen.
It was party time.
The house Pusey shares with four other guys here on the edge of the IU campus is a college man's dream — massive sofas, a Corona beer banner on the wall, a couple of glow lamps in the shape of Absolut vodka bottles. There's even a huge coffee table with beer can holders cut into it. One partier, however, didn't wait for the kegs to be tapped, deciding instead to swill on a bottle of Everclear, a high-octane liquor.
Two kegs, two bottles of liquor, one black eye and five hours later, Pusey declared the evening/morning a success.
The scene is repeated thousands of times on American campuses every weekend. Indiana just happens to have the spotlight this fall after topping the annual party school list.
The selection process is completely unscientific. The Review blankets college dorms nationwide with an e-mail survey, going to as few as 300 undergrads, even at schools as large as Indiana, which has 35,000 students.
Making matters more curious, the November issue of Playboy lists its top 25 party schools, and Indiana didn't even make the cut. Arizona State came out No. 1.
Are nights rowdier here than, say, at No. 2 party school Clemson or No. 3 University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa? Hard to say, although some say partying has increased since the ranking was announced.
Everyone, both on and off campus, has an opinion about the school's new party status.
"To be honest, I was surprised," says Ryan Leininger, a junior from Kokomo and a bouncer at Scotty's on Walnut. "I don't know where that came from."
"I always thought it was a Southern school that won those things," adds Blake Hackett, a freshman from South Bend.
"Maybe it's just Indiana's turn," says Rex Barnes, general manager of Nick's English Hut, the IU institution just a block and a half from campus. This month, it is celebrating 75 years of serving Indiana students with draft beer for 75 cents.
Even Education Secretary Rod Paige, who earned a master's and a doctorate from Indiana, has weighed in. "I do remember enjoying myself while I was there," he says. But "I don't remember IU as being the party capital of the universe."
Many believe Indiana won the designation because of the massive in-the-street celebrations leading up to its appearance in the championship game for the NCAA basketball title last March. Lampposts were greased so students couldn't climb them, but students succeeded in topping the poles nonetheless.
As Jayme Cannon, a sophomore from Carmel, says: "It's not that we know how to party. We know how to celebrate."
Technically a dry campus, Indiana, like many colleges and universities, has fought hard to control that "celebrating" in recent years, especially after an alcohol-related death of a student in 1998. IU is now one of the top six public universities in the country for alcohol and drug arrests.
Fraternity houses have been scrutinized for any alcohol violations of late; six have been kicked off campus in the last two years. A Saturday night drive up North Jordan's fraternity row proved eerily quiet.
Fundraisers have replaced beer blasts at some Greek houses. Early Saturday afternoon, the lawn in front of Alpha Gamma Delta sorority was filled with students participating in a 24-hour teeter-totter marathon for Juvenile Diabetes. Music blared. Students sat on the roof. Others danced on the grass.
"We have a lot of school pride," says Catherine Brill, a junior from Carmel and the marathon's organizer. "I think that gets confused with being a party school." She is quick to point out there was no alcohol being served at her event.
The only student found who actually answered The Princeton Review survey was at the AGD event. T. J. Halls, a sophomore from Chesterton, even responded twice.
"It was sent mostly to the freshman dorms, and they BS'ed their way through it, saying, 'Yeah, we party a lot here!' "
On the surface, the party scene off campus doesn't disprove the "it's party time" moniker.
Thursday is a huge party night — many don't have classes on Friday — and students sleeping in the red plaid chairs in the student union lounge Friday afternoon could be testimony to that. Most bars stay open until 3:30 a.m.
Kilroy's, Kilroy's Sports Bar, Bear's Place and Nick's are all on the circuit. And speaking of Nick's, the "Sink the Bismarck" game goes like this: A glass floats in a small wine bucket filled with beer, with students taking turns pouring beer into the glass. The one who finally "sinks" the glass has to down it.
Two weekends ago, a group of eight went through 14 pitchers of beer playing the game. The waitresses say that isn't all that uncommon.
Almost nightly, a line forms outside Kilroy's Sports Bar on North Walnut, probably the most popular place in town these days. It gets going later than most and can hold 750 partiers inside, with two patios taking the overflow.
Owner Linda Prall knows she's not the most popular person with the university administration, but she says everyone should relax about the party school designation.
"We're No. 1 in many categories here at Indiana," she says. "We're good at a lot of things, including partying. ... It's a social adventure. It's part of going to college."
There has been a downside to all the publicity, at least according to the students. Indiana Daily Student, the campus newspaper, reported that alcohol arrests in Bloomington doubled last month after IU's party school ranking came out.
"It's more likely you'll get in trouble now walking home from a bar than driving," says Cannon, the Carmel sophomore.
Despite the increased scrutiny, for many — like the group of students dancing on the outside of Kilroy's on Kirkwood early Saturday morning — the beat goes on.
Dawn Crothers, a junior from Fort Wayne, was more than happy to model her new Indiana T-shirt, which sums up the mood on campus.
It reads:
One Semester of Books: $450
Six Years Beer Money: $15K
Six Years Tuition: $30K
Attending #1 Party School: Priceless
She, too, says the party school ranking is a bit overblown.
"But then when I tell anyone my weekly party schedule, I think I understand why we won."
http://www.usatoday.com/life/2002-10-10-party-school_x.htm
By Craig Wilson, USA TODAY
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — It's Saturday night and the Hump Room upstairs at Nick's is jumping.
Andrea Moore, a senior at Indiana University, is playing "Sink the Bismarck," a drinking game. And she's losing, which means she's having to down glasses of beer a bit more regularly than her friends. She doesn't appear to be at all bothered by that.
She's also not bothered by the news that IU has been named the No. 1 party school in the nation. In fact, she doesn't really believe it. (Related story: Princeton Review's top 10 party schools.)
"I still don't think it's any different here than any other school," she says.
The Princeton Review thought differently. The dubious distinction was a surprise to both students (it didn't even make the list last year) and university president Myles Brand, who called the ranking "absurd."
Even so, it's not that hard to find a party or a busy bar on any given night in this college town.
Maybe it was sheer luck, or just good old Hoosier hospitality. Or maybe the school really lives up to its reputation. But a mere one hour and 23 minutes after arriving on campus Friday afternoon, a total stranger was invited to an off-campus party.
The invitation came from Brandon Pusey, an affable curly-haired (think Justin on American Idol) junior from Monticello, Ind., who was handing out leaflets at Indiana's Memorial Union for the Full Frontal Comedy show that night at Roly Poly, a local hangout.
"Come afterward, too!" he said. "We're having a house party. It'll be cool."
Sure enough, 12 hours later — at 1 a.m. — the total stranger was standing in the living room of Pusey's Washington Street group house as two beer kegs were carried up the front steps and rolled into the kitchen.
It was party time.
The house Pusey shares with four other guys here on the edge of the IU campus is a college man's dream — massive sofas, a Corona beer banner on the wall, a couple of glow lamps in the shape of Absolut vodka bottles. There's even a huge coffee table with beer can holders cut into it. One partier, however, didn't wait for the kegs to be tapped, deciding instead to swill on a bottle of Everclear, a high-octane liquor.
Two kegs, two bottles of liquor, one black eye and five hours later, Pusey declared the evening/morning a success.
The scene is repeated thousands of times on American campuses every weekend. Indiana just happens to have the spotlight this fall after topping the annual party school list.
The selection process is completely unscientific. The Review blankets college dorms nationwide with an e-mail survey, going to as few as 300 undergrads, even at schools as large as Indiana, which has 35,000 students.
Making matters more curious, the November issue of Playboy lists its top 25 party schools, and Indiana didn't even make the cut. Arizona State came out No. 1.
Are nights rowdier here than, say, at No. 2 party school Clemson or No. 3 University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa? Hard to say, although some say partying has increased since the ranking was announced.
Everyone, both on and off campus, has an opinion about the school's new party status.
"To be honest, I was surprised," says Ryan Leininger, a junior from Kokomo and a bouncer at Scotty's on Walnut. "I don't know where that came from."
"I always thought it was a Southern school that won those things," adds Blake Hackett, a freshman from South Bend.
"Maybe it's just Indiana's turn," says Rex Barnes, general manager of Nick's English Hut, the IU institution just a block and a half from campus. This month, it is celebrating 75 years of serving Indiana students with draft beer for 75 cents.
Even Education Secretary Rod Paige, who earned a master's and a doctorate from Indiana, has weighed in. "I do remember enjoying myself while I was there," he says. But "I don't remember IU as being the party capital of the universe."
Many believe Indiana won the designation because of the massive in-the-street celebrations leading up to its appearance in the championship game for the NCAA basketball title last March. Lampposts were greased so students couldn't climb them, but students succeeded in topping the poles nonetheless.
As Jayme Cannon, a sophomore from Carmel, says: "It's not that we know how to party. We know how to celebrate."
Technically a dry campus, Indiana, like many colleges and universities, has fought hard to control that "celebrating" in recent years, especially after an alcohol-related death of a student in 1998. IU is now one of the top six public universities in the country for alcohol and drug arrests.
Fraternity houses have been scrutinized for any alcohol violations of late; six have been kicked off campus in the last two years. A Saturday night drive up North Jordan's fraternity row proved eerily quiet.
Fundraisers have replaced beer blasts at some Greek houses. Early Saturday afternoon, the lawn in front of Alpha Gamma Delta sorority was filled with students participating in a 24-hour teeter-totter marathon for Juvenile Diabetes. Music blared. Students sat on the roof. Others danced on the grass.
"We have a lot of school pride," says Catherine Brill, a junior from Carmel and the marathon's organizer. "I think that gets confused with being a party school." She is quick to point out there was no alcohol being served at her event.
The only student found who actually answered The Princeton Review survey was at the AGD event. T. J. Halls, a sophomore from Chesterton, even responded twice.
"It was sent mostly to the freshman dorms, and they BS'ed their way through it, saying, 'Yeah, we party a lot here!' "
On the surface, the party scene off campus doesn't disprove the "it's party time" moniker.
Thursday is a huge party night — many don't have classes on Friday — and students sleeping in the red plaid chairs in the student union lounge Friday afternoon could be testimony to that. Most bars stay open until 3:30 a.m.
Kilroy's, Kilroy's Sports Bar, Bear's Place and Nick's are all on the circuit. And speaking of Nick's, the "Sink the Bismarck" game goes like this: A glass floats in a small wine bucket filled with beer, with students taking turns pouring beer into the glass. The one who finally "sinks" the glass has to down it.
Two weekends ago, a group of eight went through 14 pitchers of beer playing the game. The waitresses say that isn't all that uncommon.
Almost nightly, a line forms outside Kilroy's Sports Bar on North Walnut, probably the most popular place in town these days. It gets going later than most and can hold 750 partiers inside, with two patios taking the overflow.
Owner Linda Prall knows she's not the most popular person with the university administration, but she says everyone should relax about the party school designation.
"We're No. 1 in many categories here at Indiana," she says. "We're good at a lot of things, including partying. ... It's a social adventure. It's part of going to college."
There has been a downside to all the publicity, at least according to the students. Indiana Daily Student, the campus newspaper, reported that alcohol arrests in Bloomington doubled last month after IU's party school ranking came out.
"It's more likely you'll get in trouble now walking home from a bar than driving," says Cannon, the Carmel sophomore.
Despite the increased scrutiny, for many — like the group of students dancing on the outside of Kilroy's on Kirkwood early Saturday morning — the beat goes on.
Dawn Crothers, a junior from Fort Wayne, was more than happy to model her new Indiana T-shirt, which sums up the mood on campus.
It reads:
One Semester of Books: $450
Six Years Beer Money: $15K
Six Years Tuition: $30K
Attending #1 Party School: Priceless
She, too, says the party school ranking is a bit overblown.
"But then when I tell anyone my weekly party schedule, I think I understand why we won."