SMU / TCU rankings

[Paladin]

Party on Frogs: Playboy ranks TCU at No. 9

Posted Thursday, Sep. 27, 2012


By Diane Smith

[email protected]

FORT WORTH -- The October issue of Playboy magazine may end up on local coffee tables instead of under beds.

In its annual ranking of the "Top 10 Party Schools," TCU comes in at No. 9.

That's higher than the No. 15 ranking the Frogs football team gets from The Associated Press.

" Playboy?" said TCU sophomore Christiana Jones. "No way!

"It just seems weird because we are such a small school," Jones added.

Playboy uses a complex rating system based on sex life, sporting life and nightlife to come up with its rankings. It's unclear whether the drug busts this year at TCU contributed to the ranking.

The only other Texas school on the list is that public institution of higher education in Austin, where students can get up to three free condoms per day at the campus health center.

Southern Methodist University, which did not make the top 10, was named the school with the best nightlife, mostly because of the number of bars near the campus.

Students acknowledged that TCU, of course, has a cool party scene. But isn't partying supposed to be part of college life? they said.

Nick Ceja, 18, said people shouldn't expect less partying simply because TCU has the word Christian in its name.

"It comes down to the fact that it is a college," Ceja said.

John Davis, president of the nearby Bluebonnet Hills Neighborhood Association, said he's not surprised, considering the number of hard-partying TCU students who live off-campus in nearby neighborhoods,

Davis speculates that "a higher percentage of young people from TCU, who want to live off-campus, would fit the category of behavior that they wouldn't be allowed to exhibit on campus."

Chancellor Victor Boschini Jr. couldn't be reached for a comment on the ranking, but overall, TCU students and alumni agree that the publicity is positive despite some of the magazine's racy content.

Garrett Essl, a 2009 graduate, said the Playboy ranking -- coupled with more serious rankings (see U.S. News & World Report, where TCU was No. 92 in the best-college category) -- paints a picture of a well-rounded campus.

"Hey, they are taking school seriously, but they are still able to party pretty hard," Essl said.

Not everyone, however, agrees with the No. 9 spot.

Kay Greenlee, co-owner of Dutch's hamburger restaurant near the university, said the alumni and students she caters to don't seem like the stereotypical college party crowd.

"I'm very surprised they are ranked No. 9," Greenlee said. "We sell way more burgers than we do beer."

However, Playboy's No.1 ranking of the University of Virginia seemed completely appropriate, based on what she saw when Cavalier fans came to Cowtown last week for a football game against TCU.

"We had a rowdy, rowdy crowd of Virginia people," Greenlee said.

TCU did not make the cut on other party school lists from the Princeton Review and Newsweek, both of which rank West Virginia University No. 1.

But seriously, when it comes to ranking party schools, who would know better, Newsweek or Playboy?