YUP! THAT'S MY ALMA MATER!

...after the bars close?

It's what every Ohio University alumnus with a college-bound son loves to have said son read in the daily headlines:

Ohio University Reigns As The Nation's Top Party School

Likewise, it's what every University of Iowa-bound freshman with a worried, overprotective mother loves to have said mother read in the same news story:

No. 4 University of Iowa.


Ack.

But what the heck. Why not let all the naughty Bobcats and Hawkeyes out of the bag!

Ohio University -- aka, back in the day, "Harvard on the Hocking" --  has made the Princeton Review's Top Party Schools list like a dozen times since 1997.  Of course, that was, ahem, just a few moons after I graduated from OU in 1979 (with honors, thank you) .

Which is not to say Bobcats weren't legendary for their partying prowess prior to the late 90s.

In fact, both OU and Iowa made Playboy's 1987 list of top partying schools.  Iowa ranked 31st, and Ohio, 34th, that year.  I'd been gone from campus since June '79, which may explain Ohio's lower ratings...ba-da-bump.

Nevertheless, it is true that OU only made Playboy's "honorable mention" list in 2006...

Go figure.

Anyway...

Iowa also ranked the following in this year's Princeton Review: Best Midwestern Colleges; Students study the least, 7; Lots of hard liquor, 8; Major frat and sorority scene, 13; Lots of beer, 14; Students pack the stadiums, 14; and Professors get low marks, 19.


Oh. Yay. Glad to know Daniel's student loans are going toward an education at an institution ranked in the Top 20 for students who study the least, where the beer and hard liquor flow, and professors get low marks.


As for my alma mater...equally impressive.  OU also lands in the top 20 in the lots of beer and lots of hard liquor categories, as well as best athletic facilities, most beautiful campus and major fraternity and sorority scene.


My son found the news to be a bit of a hoot.  


"Party girl, eh?" 

Me and my Roomie...freshman year

"Never." I replied. "Though I was at one of the first now-infamous Halloween Street parties that got out of hand after the bars closed. Back in '76 I think it was..."


Daniel's ears perked up.


"Really?"


He was probably having a hard time picturing his mother staying up past 8 p.m. let alone attending a rowdy street party outside a bunch of bars.


"Just an innocent bystander in a costume, of course," I quickly interjected. "But my friend, Holly?  She was in the thick of it and got hit in the leg with a knee knocker -- a wooden bullet -- when they called in the cops."


"Whoa.  That's possible Facebook status material," he said.


Ah! Youth! Ah! Ohio University!


Alma Mater, Ohio
When we read thy story o'er,
We revere thee and cheer thee
As we sing thy praise once more.