Princeton Review Top Party Schools Cracking Down on Binge Drinking While Profiting Off Their Reputation
ByEach of the last two Princeton Review top party schools are combatting binge drinking on their campuses while simultaneously profiting off their reputation.
In this year's rankings, Syracuse University moved to the top spot and the University of Iowa dropped to number two. In the last two years, leaders both schools have lamented being placed so high on the list and have attempted to rectify the matter.
According to the Huffington Post, Syracuse banned partying at an apartment building called Castle Court and added property managers to monitor a popular drinking spot in the parking lot. After earning the top party school title last year, Iowa implemented a course on alcohol for all first-year students.
Iowa and Syracuse, however, have sold licensing to various items closely related to drinking games, something the former strictly advises its students to avoid. On BizChair.com, you can purchase a Syracuse Orange branded beer pong table. Though they may be branded as Iowa Hawkeye Jell-O molds, students are definitely using them to make Jell-O shots.
The University of Iowa also sells shot glasses, beer coozies and pint glasses in its official school store. Syracuse does the same.
"It's not at all clear that there is a link between collegiate licensed products and heavy drinking by college students," Syracuse spokesman Joe Brennan told the HP. "While it may be an interesting point of conversation, it's probably not the most fruitful place to look if we want to find answers to the problem."
Iowa has also fought certain licensing issues before, like when Bud Light was featuring the Hawkeyes' black and yellow on their beer cans in 2009. Iowa officials were upset because they were trying to curb binge drinking.