For the fourth straight year, the Princeton Review's annual rankings listed DePauw University in the top 15 party schools in the nation.
President Brian Casey wasted little time sharing his thoughts about the rankings when he sent an email to DePauw students, faculty, staff and parents who opted to receive university emails. Casey called the rankings, among other things, "extremely disappointing."
The Princeton Review's Party Schools list, which placed DePauw at No. 12 this year, uses a combination of surveys from students - asking questions about drug and alcohol use and the popularity of the greek system to determine which schools in the nation party the hardest.
DePauw has become something of a fixture on the list the last four years - peaking in 2010 at No. 10. In 2012, DePauw was the only private university besides Syracuse University in New York state to make the top 20.
In the email, Casey said the ranking is "not an accurate reflection of the DePauw experience" and questioned the validity of The Princeton Review's surveys.
"The Princeton Review states that their lists are based on timely student surveys, but the quotations they offer from DePauw students have not changed in the last four years," Casey said. "We have no reason to believe that the views of today's DePauw students actually play any part in placing DePauw on this list."
In an interview with The DePauw, Casey went deeper, saying the rankings are "measurably damaging" to the university and its students. He said the placement of DePauw on the party school rankings has a "direct and negative impact on admissions."
According to Dan Meyer, vice president of admissions and financial aid, Neustadt Creative Marketing performed a series of focus groups in the fall of 2010 involving prospective students who had or had not applied. In conversations with the students, which Meyer said he was able to overhear, students brought up concerns about the university's placement on the party school list a "number of times."
He said students would note DePauw's academic reputation, but said they were hesitant to commit to the school because of the party rankings.
Meyer said in an email that he cannot determine the exact number of students that have been deterred from DePauw because of the high party ranking, but that the focus group research did indicate that the school's ranking was a "major concern among both high school students and their parents."
However, Meyer did recognize that the major reasons many students do not come to DePauw concern other issues they have with the university, such as its location, size or majors offered.
Freshman Dan Burmeister said that the he did not get the impression of DePauw as a top party school and did not consider it a factor when committing to the school.
"I didn't know it was a party school until literally 20 minutes before I left from my first visit," Burmeister said.
"What sold me was how genuinely [my tour guide] expressed his affection for this school," he added. "Most of the people who have heard of [DePauw] know that it is good for something other than partying."
Casey also expressed his concerns that the rankings would have a negative impact on graduates looking for jobs. However, senior Taylor Horowitz doesn't see this as a problem; the ranking might even help her.
"I don't think being on the top party school list will correspond with getting a job," she said. "[DePauw] is not that well-known on the East Coast where I'm from. If anything it will help get the name out there."
Both Casey and Meyer pointed to DePauw's high fraternity and sorority involvement as the primary reason the school remained high on the list. Just less than 70 percent of students are greek-affiliated, according to the Office of Campus Living and Community Development.
Meyer admitted that although the university has taken a definite stand against the rankings, there are those on campus who take on pride in the rankings. He cited students who feel that the schools high ranking on the party school list is the reflection of the student body's "work hard, play hard" mentality. While Meyer said he can understand the sentiment, ultimately a classification as a party school "diminishes the perceived value of DePauw."
Meyer is aware students drink at DePauw, but still believes the rankings are inaccurate.
"I've been to nine schools in 30 years and our students are no more prone to participate in alcohol use than any other campus."
Still, the best understanding of the university's lifestyle probably comes from experience, as sophomore Claudia Gutierrez says.
"It might have some influence on prospective students," she said. "Overall, everybody knows what type of environment it is once they get here and see the whole picture."