Playboy will feature its “Top 10 Party Schools” in the May 2006 issue. The list was announced as part of a casting call for coeds, and photographers have been snapping pics at the selected campuses for the past six weeks.
The schools, in no particular order, are:
- Arizona State University
- University of Wisconsin – Madison
- San Diego State University
- Florida State University
- University of California, Santa Barbara
- University of Georgia
- University of Tennessee
- Indiana University
- Ohio University
- McGill UniversityAs Playboy rolls into town, news outlets in Phoenix, San Diego and elsewhere are interviewing sheepish administrators and university PIOs over the selections. A typical reaction comes from ASU president Michael Crow, who talked with The Arizona Republic:
In ASU’s case, the party-school ranking is “a gross simplification that doesn’t have anything to do with who we are and what we are,” Crow says…
A few weeks ago, Mark Jacobs, dean of the school’s Barrett Honors College, boasted to high school recruits and their parents that ASU had dropped off the Princeton Review’s list of best party schools.
Now comes Playboy’s list.
“How do they really know?” Crow asks. “How do they really assess that? ASU is a very serious school with very serious students. It’s also a place where people have a great time and is a great place to be.”
My view is that the Playboy acknowledgment can be a good thing. It’s certainly nothing to get defensive about.
First, some background. Contrary to popular belief, Playboy does not publish an annual list of top party schools; this is an urban legend. From Playboy‘s Web site:
Since about 1955, rumors have floated around every campus in the country that Playboy had at one time run a survey of drinking on campus and that a particular school was listed as number one. But we’ve ranked party schools only twice, in January 1987 (top school: California State at Chico) and November 2002 (top spot: Arizona State). As the old saw goes, if your school isn’t included, it’s because we didn’t rank professionals. Two caveats: In September 1968, we listed the University of Wisconsin at Madison as the most permissive campus in a sample of 25 universities. We also called it “the party school,” primarily because it served beer in the student union. We repeated the exercise in October 1976, naming UCLA tops in “campus action.”
When I was considering colleges, I looked at the University of Virginia and William and Mary. For a liberal arts education, the schools are comparable academically. What tipped the scales for me is that my friends told me that U.Va. was more fun — that it was a better party school. In fact, U.Va. made Playboy‘s 1987 list.
Social life is also why many Ivy League students choose Princeton over Harvard; Harvard has a rep of being too serious and intense.
Damage from the Playboy accolade only comes when a school hasn’t established its brand academically — so it becomes known only as a party school. That’s not Playboy‘s fault; it’s the school’s fault.
It’s this larger problem that university administrators and PIOs should focus on addressing. Defensiveness is weakness.
(Oh, and that devilish logo doesn’t help you, either, Arizona State.)
Technorati tags: Playboy, Arizona State, SDSU, Colleges, PR, Public Relations, Marketing
Tags: dallas marketing, dallas pr, dallas public relations, party school, Playboy, top 10 party schools
Arizona State is a joke beyond a joke. They don’t truly understand PR, and likely wouldn’t know what a blog was if it bit them on the ass – so, don’t worry, they’ll never see this post and my response.
A perfect example was the RFP I had last year from the school. In a nutshell – as a reporter characterized it to me – it was an RFP that said “we have no idea what’s going on and we need help.” I had a full idea fleshed out, but then was told that the school likely would not have spent the money on a nationwide student/parent/guidance counselor audit to find out what the views were of the influencers (students and guidance counselors) and the money people (parents). I bet the view would not have been much different than the Playboy survey.
The fact is that ASU is not a great school, because it is not in an education state. Year after year, tuition would go up at the University of Arizona, while programs were cut. The state itself doesn’t care about education – at any level – and when your schools rank 50/50, you have issues which will extend to the University level. It’s just a disease.
The McGill one is interesting, though. It must be the huge cross that overlooks the school that makes everyone randy.
I particularly liked this line from the Republic article:
“As one student puts it: ‘It is rare to find an academically oriented soul on campus.’”
Ouch.
It’s the largest school in the nation now. It’s not that way because of academia. Heck, the journalism school came thisclose to losing its accreditation this year – that says alot.
But, I’m sure they’ll trot out the Noble prize winner. And, I can bet he does not teach any undergrad classes.
Scott:
Quoting from the Playboy website? I was hoping you’d just post some pictures.
John: You’ll notice it was a rare case where I didn’t link back… This a family site, you know.
I forgot the line from the Simpsons that puts everything into perspective.
Ned Flanders: Gosh, heaven must be easier to get into than Arizona State.
‘Nuff said.