Greetings, incoming Arizona State University students! Welcome to one of the largest universities in the U.S. — fifth largest, in fact, by enrollment, with more than 57,000 Sun Devils matriculating last year.
We don’t know why you chose ASU. Perhaps it’s got a great program in your chosen field of study. Maybe you’re an Arizona native and you’re after that sweet in-state tuition. Or possibly, you just like being really, really hot.
Whatever the reason, we feel like there are a few things you should know about your chosen school. You see, it wasn’t so many years ago that your “New American University,” packed to the brim with innovators, expensive new buildings and the air of respectability, was the Wild, Wild West of higher education.
Co-ed porn stars, out-of-control frat parties, underwear brawls, STD rates that would make you go shopping for chastity belts on Amazon — earlier eras of life at ASU were a little crazier and a lot more fun. Sometimes, that crazy fun became crazy problematic.
We’re guessing that you didn’t hear about any of this during your campus tour or student orientation, and we’re not surprised. But every former Sun Devil has a story or two about crazy campus antics, and a lot of them were chronicled on the Phoenix New Times website back in the day.
So from the New Times archives, enjoy excerpts from these tales of debauchery to get a better sense of the history of your new academic home. And go Devils!
By Matthew Hendley
(Note: The Dirty was a website that originated in Scottsdale that put folks on blast for everything from pretending to have more money than they do to being really annoying to spreading STDs. Imagine a TikTok tea page but much more vicious and with photos of all the accused.)
A baby tailgating at an Arizona State University football game was either chugging beer while doing a keg stand or was subject to a photo op, and the university's police department is trying to figure it out.
That photo was posted by someone on TheDirty.com, and not only did "Nik Richie" act like he was offended, but it has also caused a stink with the cops.
The more important question for the cops, though, is who posted the photo to the website, presumably to help them find the parents.
A university spokeswoman sent us the following statement: "ASU Police are looking into the posted photo. It's not clear if this is a joke or an actual event that occurred. Police are contacting the website that displayed the photo to see if they can determine who posted it."
The odds would seem pretty low that several people standing around and giggling about force-feeding beer to a baby in public, but the cops are checking this one out.
By James King(Note: From 2008 to 2015, ASU hosted the annual Undie Run event, in which students would take off their clothes to donate them to charity, then race around the Tempe campus.)
Authorities say the most serious offense with which they can charge two members of the Arizona State University wrestling team, seen attacking a man during the school's annual "undie run," is disorderly conduct. The problem: they can't find the potential victim.
ASU police Commander James Hardina tells New Times that the wrestlers claim the attack on the mystery victim was self-defense, and unless authorities have someone to tell them otherwise, the only crime with which they can be charged is disorderly conduct for fighting in public.
By James King
(Note: ASU’s status as the top party school in the country, coupled with some of the other stuff on this list, made us the butt of jokes made by everyone from “The Simpsons” to “The Daily Show.” Good thing the student body is so much more respectable today.)
As you may recall, Arizona State University's (ahem) prestigious "party school" image has been tarnished in recent years, as President Michael Crow continues his ruthless campaign against fun in his quest to create "The New American University."
As a result of Crow's vicious blitzkrieg on students' social lives, the Sun Devils fell to 15th on Playboy magazine's list of the country's top party schools. Fortunately, a group of more than 2,000 students aren't going down without a fight and have turned to Facebook to help get ASU back on top.
The Facebook group "Make ASU Playboy's Top Party School" serves as a forum for students to post photos of themselves partying, share suggestions about how to party better and advertise upcoming parties.
In 2002, Playboy named ASU the number-one party school in the country, and these students are hoping to reclaim that former glory.
ASU sophomore Chelsea Frank is a member of the group and calls Crow's antics an act of "douche-baggery," saying ASU needs to get back to its partyin' roots.
"I came out here from New York expecting to walk into an Asher Roth music video, because ASU was supposed to be a renowned party school," Frank tells New Times. "What is this 'New American University' bullshit?' We're not god-damn Harvard or Yale!"
By Matthew Hendley
(Note: Yikes.)
Congratulations to the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity at Arizona State University, which has just been named the "most out-of-control" frat in the United States of America.
Rolling Stone magazine gave SAE (ΣΑΕ) the honor for its two high-profile incidents last year — the death of a pledge, and an extremely intoxicated frat member getting dumped at the hospital with a sticky note slapped on him.
Last year, freshman Jack Culolias wandered off from a fraternity event after getting kicked out of the Cadillac Ranch bar the night of November 30.
Culolias had used a fake ID to get in there and drink, and Culolias' mother, a California resident, is the one who filed the missing-person report with police.
Culolias' body was found in a nearby riverbed about two weeks later, although police never suspected foul play.
The other incident giving the frat its "out of control" status was purportedly not a fraternity-sanctioned event, but a 20-year-old student in the fraternity was dumped at a hospital by his "friends" last month after a tequila-drinking contest, which nearly killed the student, who had a .47 blood-alcohol level.
After many shots of tequila, the student, Aidan Mohr, passed out and started to vomit. And, according to one of his pals, his eyes started rolling back into his head.
Mohr's friends then debated with each other on what to do and ended up driving him to another friend's house, who wanted to "evaluate" him. That friend advised a trip to the hospital, so Mohr's "friends" put a note on him, wheeled him into the lobby of a Tempe hospital in a wheelchair, and took off.
A few months ago, ASU banned the fraternity from the campus (although they were already living off-campus), which prevents them from doing any fraternity activities at the university.
By James King(Note: While the following article is more of a general reminder to practice safe sex, we’re including it due to the casually tossed-off statistic that put ASU in the dog house, genitally speaking.)
The newest data is in: Burning piss and itchy bumps are on the rise in the United States — again.
The Centers for Disease Control announced today that reported sexually transmitted diseases increased to record levels in 2008.
According to the CDC, there were 1.2 million new cases of chlamydia in the United States in 2008, up from the previous record 1.1 million in 2007.
CDC officials believe that better screening methods for the clap can account for a portion of the increase. But when it comes to other diseases — like syphilis — they're spreading.
About 10 years ago, the CDC believed that syphilis was nearly extinct but the disease seems to be coming back with a vengeance in recent years.
In 2008, there were about 13,500 new cases of the disease, up from 11,500 in 2007.
We called the ASU health center to see if Sun Devils were feeling the burn (pun intended) of the increase. Nobody's gotten back to us yet, but ASU has been at the bottom of the barrel when it comes to sexual health for years.
ASU ranked 119 out of 139 schools in Trojan condoms' 2008 "Sexual Health Report Card," which is a little better than its 137th ranking in 2006.
Bottom line: Bag it up, folks.
By Matthew Hendley
(Note: In the 2000s and 2010s, ASU had quite the porn problem — students punished for shooting scenes on campus, Backroom Casting Couch recruiting Sun Devils for videos and more. This is just one porn-related story we covered.)
According to the rumor mill at TMZ, Arizona State University's starting a legal battle against a locally based porn website, "Sun Devil Angels," arguing that people on the 'net might be confused by the website if they're looking for information about the university.
That gave us the, um, opportunity to visit the allegedly offending website to check out the claims.
"In the docs, obtained by TMZ, ASU argues ... unless Sun Devil Angels is stopped immediately, the site is 'likely to cause initial interest confusion among Internet users seeking information regarding ASU,'" TMZ reports.
We couldn't immediately find the referenced documents this morning, but we did compare the claim against the website — and we don't really see it.
The logo from the porno website looks absolutely nothing like anything related to the university. Really, there doesn't seem to be anything even remotely related to A-State on the website, except for possibly the "Sun Devil Angels" name that ASU alleges infringes on its trademark.
References on the internet put the home for Sun Devil Angels in either Scottsdale or Mesa, and a man named Raymond E. Coates applied for the "Sun Devil Angels" trademark a few years ago, although it was listed as "abandoned" in 2009.
By Matthew Hendley
(Note: We don’t have the space to share every party on this list, so we’re just sharing a few. We think you'll get the picture anyway.)
Stripper Party
In 2010, a member of the Alpha Epsilon Pi told ASU administrators that he and others were sexually hazed by being pressured into performing sexual acts on strippers, according to ASU's State Press. Photographs of the acts were among the evidence turned over to administrators.
Stabbing
During a 2010 party at the Sigma Nu frat house, a 21-year-old frat member went to his room after his brothers threatened to throw him in a pool, and said he'd stab them if anyone came in. Two guys went in there, and the frat brother stabbed one of them with a box cutter. He later pleaded guilty to a felony assault charge.
Gallon Challenge
In 2009, Delta Sigma Phi had pledges participate in the "gallon challenge," which consisted of the pledges drinking a gallon of milk and attempting not to vomit. They vomited — while standing atop the University Drive bridge. According to multiple reports, the vomiting caused a woman to rear-end another car on University Drive, injuring her and her 6-year-old kid.
Everclear Plus Fire
During a party last year at the home of a Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity member, another member of the fraternity allegedly tossed a bottle of Everclear into a bonfire. Police said the flaming alcohol landed on two girls, an 18-year-old student and a 17-year-old prospective student, severely burning them.
MLK Black Party
The Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity had its recognition revoked by ASU after members hosted a party in 2014 on the MLK holiday, during which (white) attendees dressed up in basketball jerseys and bandannas, threw up gang signs and drank out of a hollowed-out watermelon.
Are you a former Sun Devil with a great story about the wild days? Has the statute of limitations run out? Email us and tell us the story, and we may include it in an upcoming piece.
We don’t know why you chose ASU. Perhaps it’s got a great program in your chosen field of study. Maybe you’re an Arizona native and you’re after that sweet in-state tuition. Or possibly, you just like being really, really hot.
Whatever the reason, we feel like there are a few things you should know about your chosen school. You see, it wasn’t so many years ago that your “New American University,” packed to the brim with innovators, expensive new buildings and the air of respectability, was the Wild, Wild West of higher education.
Co-ed porn stars, out-of-control frat parties, underwear brawls, STD rates that would make you go shopping for chastity belts on Amazon — earlier eras of life at ASU were a little crazier and a lot more fun. Sometimes, that crazy fun became crazy problematic.
We’re guessing that you didn’t hear about any of this during your campus tour or student orientation, and we’re not surprised. But every former Sun Devil has a story or two about crazy campus antics, and a lot of them were chronicled on the Phoenix New Times website back in the day.
So from the New Times archives, enjoy excerpts from these tales of debauchery to get a better sense of the history of your new academic home. And go Devils!
‘ASU Police Not Sure Whether a Baby Actually Did a Keg-Stand’
Sept. 27, 2012By Matthew Hendley
(Note: The Dirty was a website that originated in Scottsdale that put folks on blast for everything from pretending to have more money than they do to being really annoying to spreading STDs. Imagine a TikTok tea page but much more vicious and with photos of all the accused.)
A baby tailgating at an Arizona State University football game was either chugging beer while doing a keg stand or was subject to a photo op, and the university's police department is trying to figure it out.
That photo was posted by someone on TheDirty.com, and not only did "Nik Richie" act like he was offended, but it has also caused a stink with the cops.
The more important question for the cops, though, is who posted the photo to the website, presumably to help them find the parents.
A university spokeswoman sent us the following statement: "ASU Police are looking into the posted photo. It's not clear if this is a joke or an actual event that occurred. Police are contacting the website that displayed the photo to see if they can determine who posted it."
The odds would seem pretty low that several people standing around and giggling about force-feeding beer to a baby in public, but the cops are checking this one out.
‘If You Were Sucker Punched by an ASU Wrestler, University Police Would Like to Have a Chat’
May 17, 2011By James King(Note: From 2008 to 2015, ASU hosted the annual Undie Run event, in which students would take off their clothes to donate them to charity, then race around the Tempe campus.)
Authorities say the most serious offense with which they can charge two members of the Arizona State University wrestling team, seen attacking a man during the school's annual "undie run," is disorderly conduct. The problem: they can't find the potential victim.
ASU police Commander James Hardina tells New Times that the wrestlers claim the attack on the mystery victim was self-defense, and unless authorities have someone to tell them otherwise, the only crime with which they can be charged is disorderly conduct for fighting in public.
‘Students Form Group to Get ASU Back on Top of Playboy Party School List’
Jan. 28, 2010By James King
(Note: ASU’s status as the top party school in the country, coupled with some of the other stuff on this list, made us the butt of jokes made by everyone from “The Simpsons” to “The Daily Show.” Good thing the student body is so much more respectable today.)
As you may recall, Arizona State University's (ahem) prestigious "party school" image has been tarnished in recent years, as President Michael Crow continues his ruthless campaign against fun in his quest to create "The New American University."
As a result of Crow's vicious blitzkrieg on students' social lives, the Sun Devils fell to 15th on Playboy magazine's list of the country's top party schools. Fortunately, a group of more than 2,000 students aren't going down without a fight and have turned to Facebook to help get ASU back on top.
The Facebook group "Make ASU Playboy's Top Party School" serves as a forum for students to post photos of themselves partying, share suggestions about how to party better and advertise upcoming parties.
In 2002, Playboy named ASU the number-one party school in the country, and these students are hoping to reclaim that former glory.
ASU sophomore Chelsea Frank is a member of the group and calls Crow's antics an act of "douche-baggery," saying ASU needs to get back to its partyin' roots.
"I came out here from New York expecting to walk into an Asher Roth music video, because ASU was supposed to be a renowned party school," Frank tells New Times. "What is this 'New American University' bullshit?' We're not god-damn Harvard or Yale!"
‘ASU Fraternity Named the Most Out-of-Control Frat in America’
Aug. 29, 2013By Matthew Hendley
(Note: Yikes.)
Congratulations to the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity at Arizona State University, which has just been named the "most out-of-control" frat in the United States of America.
Rolling Stone magazine gave SAE (ΣΑΕ) the honor for its two high-profile incidents last year — the death of a pledge, and an extremely intoxicated frat member getting dumped at the hospital with a sticky note slapped on him.
Last year, freshman Jack Culolias wandered off from a fraternity event after getting kicked out of the Cadillac Ranch bar the night of November 30.
Culolias had used a fake ID to get in there and drink, and Culolias' mother, a California resident, is the one who filed the missing-person report with police.
Culolias' body was found in a nearby riverbed about two weeks later, although police never suspected foul play.
The other incident giving the frat its "out of control" status was purportedly not a fraternity-sanctioned event, but a 20-year-old student in the fraternity was dumped at a hospital by his "friends" last month after a tequila-drinking contest, which nearly killed the student, who had a .47 blood-alcohol level.
After many shots of tequila, the student, Aidan Mohr, passed out and started to vomit. And, according to one of his pals, his eyes started rolling back into his head.
Mohr's friends then debated with each other on what to do and ended up driving him to another friend's house, who wanted to "evaluate" him. That friend advised a trip to the hospital, so Mohr's "friends" put a note on him, wheeled him into the lobby of a Tempe hospital in a wheelchair, and took off.
A few months ago, ASU banned the fraternity from the campus (although they were already living off-campus), which prevents them from doing any fraternity activities at the university.
If you live in Arizona, we recommend using one of these next time you hop into bed with someone.
Jennifer Goldberg
‘Centers for Disease Control: STDs on Rise. Look Out ASU!’
Nov. 17, 2009By James King(Note: While the following article is more of a general reminder to practice safe sex, we’re including it due to the casually tossed-off statistic that put ASU in the dog house, genitally speaking.)
The newest data is in: Burning piss and itchy bumps are on the rise in the United States — again.
The Centers for Disease Control announced today that reported sexually transmitted diseases increased to record levels in 2008.
According to the CDC, there were 1.2 million new cases of chlamydia in the United States in 2008, up from the previous record 1.1 million in 2007.
CDC officials believe that better screening methods for the clap can account for a portion of the increase. But when it comes to other diseases — like syphilis — they're spreading.
About 10 years ago, the CDC believed that syphilis was nearly extinct but the disease seems to be coming back with a vengeance in recent years.
In 2008, there were about 13,500 new cases of the disease, up from 11,500 in 2007.
We called the ASU health center to see if Sun Devils were feeling the burn (pun intended) of the increase. Nobody's gotten back to us yet, but ASU has been at the bottom of the barrel when it comes to sexual health for years.
ASU ranked 119 out of 139 schools in Trojan condoms' 2008 "Sexual Health Report Card," which is a little better than its 137th ranking in 2006.
Bottom line: Bag it up, folks.
‘ASU in Battle With Local Porn Site Sun Devil Angels, TMZ Claims’
Feb. 19, 2013(Note: In the 2000s and 2010s, ASU had quite the porn problem — students punished for shooting scenes on campus, Backroom Casting Couch recruiting Sun Devils for videos and more. This is just one porn-related story we covered.)
According to the rumor mill at TMZ, Arizona State University's starting a legal battle against a locally based porn website, "Sun Devil Angels," arguing that people on the 'net might be confused by the website if they're looking for information about the university.
That gave us the, um, opportunity to visit the allegedly offending website to check out the claims.
"In the docs, obtained by TMZ, ASU argues ... unless Sun Devil Angels is stopped immediately, the site is 'likely to cause initial interest confusion among Internet users seeking information regarding ASU,'" TMZ reports.
We couldn't immediately find the referenced documents this morning, but we did compare the claim against the website — and we don't really see it.
The logo from the porno website looks absolutely nothing like anything related to the university. Really, there doesn't seem to be anything even remotely related to A-State on the website, except for possibly the "Sun Devil Angels" name that ASU alleges infringes on its trademark.
References on the internet put the home for Sun Devil Angels in either Scottsdale or Mesa, and a man named Raymond E. Coates applied for the "Sun Devil Angels" trademark a few years ago, although it was listed as "abandoned" in 2009.
‘10 Worst ASU Frat Parties’
Jan. 27, 2014By Matthew Hendley
(Note: We don’t have the space to share every party on this list, so we’re just sharing a few. We think you'll get the picture anyway.)
Stripper Party
In 2010, a member of the Alpha Epsilon Pi told ASU administrators that he and others were sexually hazed by being pressured into performing sexual acts on strippers, according to ASU's State Press. Photographs of the acts were among the evidence turned over to administrators.
Stabbing
During a 2010 party at the Sigma Nu frat house, a 21-year-old frat member went to his room after his brothers threatened to throw him in a pool, and said he'd stab them if anyone came in. Two guys went in there, and the frat brother stabbed one of them with a box cutter. He later pleaded guilty to a felony assault charge.
Gallon Challenge
In 2009, Delta Sigma Phi had pledges participate in the "gallon challenge," which consisted of the pledges drinking a gallon of milk and attempting not to vomit. They vomited — while standing atop the University Drive bridge. According to multiple reports, the vomiting caused a woman to rear-end another car on University Drive, injuring her and her 6-year-old kid.
Everclear Plus Fire
During a party last year at the home of a Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity member, another member of the fraternity allegedly tossed a bottle of Everclear into a bonfire. Police said the flaming alcohol landed on two girls, an 18-year-old student and a 17-year-old prospective student, severely burning them.
MLK Black Party
The Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity had its recognition revoked by ASU after members hosted a party in 2014 on the MLK holiday, during which (white) attendees dressed up in basketball jerseys and bandannas, threw up gang signs and drank out of a hollowed-out watermelon.
Are you a former Sun Devil with a great story about the wild days? Has the statute of limitations run out? Email us and tell us the story, and we may include it in an upcoming piece.
