UI’s party school ranking an unfair representation

By Iowa City Press-Citizen

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The University of Iowa moved from No. 9 on the Princeton Review's top party school list last year up to No. 4 in rankings released recently (“UI ranked No. 4 party school in U.S.,” Aug. 2).

The reaction from UI officials?

“It's difficult to place much stock in the rankings,” Moore said. “There seems to be a disconnect with the results of their survey and the facts we've seen on campus.”

UI Student Government President Elliot Higgins agreed. “I don't think it's a fair representation of our school,” Higgins said.

We have to agree.

In years past, UI deserved a reputation as a party school. The drinking scene in Iowa City - which, in fairness, wasn't limited only to UI students - often was out of control or close to out of control. But with the city's implementation of the 21-only bar entry ordinance last year and several strong steps from the university aimed at decreasing binge drinking among students, we believe UI is making progress.

That's why UI's move up in the rankings is puzzling to us.

Of course, the ratings are far from scientific in the first place. They also are based more on reputation than reality. We hope that reputation starts to reflect what we see as an improving reality at UI in our community.

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