Ohio University takes runner-up in annual party school rankings

Now the party don’t start till Ohio University walks in. Or so says “The Princeton Review” in its annual party-school rankings, where OU placed second this year.

The review announced Monday that the  University of Georgia, another Athens college, came in first in the  party-school rankings this year. After OU at number two came Penn State in  third, with West Virginia University in fourth and the University of  Mississippi in fifth.

OU also took a number of other high rankings  in “The Princeton Review.” The school came in at number one in the “lots of  beer” category and seven in the “lots of hard liquor” category. OU also made 20th  in the “major frat and sorority scene” category.

“The Princeton Review” (not affiliated with  the Ivy League college) makes its ranking based on e-mail surveys of 122,000  students at more than 370 colleges across the United States. The publication  and website states that the party-school ranking is tabulated from information  about alcohol and drug use on campus, hours spent or not spent studying, and  Greek participation on campus.

OU made fifth place in the party-school  rankings the previous two years, ninth in 2007, sixth in 2006 and second in  2005.

OU officials said Monday that while they are  disappointed in the rankings, the school doesn’t put a lot of credence in it.

“It does not represent the holistic  experience of Ohio (University) students,” Kent Smith, vice president for  student affairs, wrote in prepared statement. “Ohio University is routinely  ranked as one of the best universities in America based on the quality of our  academics and the breadth of our student experience.”

In fact, “The Princeton Review” also ranked  OU as one of the “Best Midwestern Colleges.”

“We’re pleased to recommend Ohio University  as one of the best schools to earn an undergraduate degree,” said Robert  Franek, the review’s senior vice president of publishing, in a press release.  “We chose it and the other terrific institutions we named as ‘regional best’  colleges mainly for their excellent academic programs.”

OU joins 152 other schools in the “Best in  the Midwest” category.

Smith praised this ranking.

“We are pleased to be recognized for our  outstanding academics as judged by educational professionals,” he said in a  separate press release from the statement about the party-school ranking. “It  is our goal, every day, to provide Ohio students with the highest-quality  academic experience coupled with meaningful out-of-class opportunities and  professional support services to help them grow and develop into the people who  will become tomorrow’s leaders.”

Marietta College also ranked as a “Best  Midwestern College” in the list.

FOR THIS PROJECT, THE REVIEW asks students attending the schools to rate their own schools on several issues  from the accessibility of their professors to the quality of the campus food.  The survey also asks students to answer questions about themselves, fellow  students and campus life. Comments from surveyed students are quoted in the  school profiles on the Princeton Review website.

This section of the website quotes various  student comments within a descriptive paragraph. It includes comments from  different students and reads:

“The OU student body ‘is pretty homogenous,’  with a large contingent of undergrads who are ‘white, middle- to upper-class,  and from Ohio.’ ‘We have a small minority population, especially in the  undergraduate programs,’ one student concedes, ‘but it’s easy to interact with  other cultures if you seek them out.’ Students here ‘try to get involved in  community service, especially those involved in Greek life,’ and they are  ‘generally friendly.’ Most work hard enough to get by but rarely harder; one  student observes that ‘students totally devoted to their schoolwork are  atypical here.’”

OU Dean of Students Ryan Lombardi sent an  e-mail to parents and families after hearing of the news. He cited numerous  efforts by the university to curb the party school reputation. He said that the  university has seen a 60 percent decrease in the number of alcohol-related  judicial offences since new initiatives were put in place in 2005. He also  reported a 25 percent decrease in first-year students who report high-risk  drinking behavior.

“While we still have much work to do on this  front, we have made significant progress in changing the culture at Ohio  University,” he said.

Some students, however, have theorized that  the decline in alcohol offenses may be a partial consequence of students taking  greater care to avoid the stiffer sanctions for alcohol possession and Resident  Life staff being less willing to “bust” students for offenses that could get  them thrown out of school.

“The Princeton Review” also ranked OU at 17th  for “great financial aid” and 19th for “students study the least.”

But Smith said that OU students are among the  best in the country.

“I am amazed every day at the caliber of  students involved in our 350 plus student organizations or in meaningful  research and internships in addition to their studies,” he said. “We have more  than 185,000 alumni who hold leadership positions in all walks of life, thanks,  in part, to their Ohio University education.”