After a brief fall from grace, thanks -- in part -- to Arizona State University President Michael Crow's ruthless crusade against fun under the disguise of "The New American University," the Sun Devils are back in Playboy magazine's list of top-10 party schools in the country.
According to Playboy's new rankings, released in the magazine's May 2010 issue, ASU is now number 6 on the list.
There was some serious concern that ASU's party-school status was a thing of the past after falling to 15th in last year's rankings, and not even making the list in 2007 or 2008.
Students we spoke to a few months ago blamed Crow, calling his policies acts of "douche-baggery." They even created a Facebook group called "Make ASU Playboy's Top Party School."
One student we spoke to, Chelsea Frank, told us that she's considering leaving the university unless the party scene starts to match her expectations.
"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!
"I'm thinking of transferring next year, because it's just not the experience I was hoping for. I hear about these riots at WVU, UF, SUNY Albany, Maryland, UCSB etc. -- people burning couches in the streets, screaming off their balconies, running into the middle of a lecture doing a beer bong and then running out -- shit like that."
And what type of institution of higher learning is complete without "shit like that?"
The University of Texas at Austin got top honors on this year's list, followed by West Virginia University (WVU), and the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
ASU's been ranked a top party school five times in its history, and as a result, Playboy ne is throwing a party for Sun Devil students on April 24 at American Junkie in Scottsdale.
