I've mentioned before the idea that Oregon State University Students tend to be from rural, religious and conservative backgrounds and they will often stereotype the nearby and more liberal University of Oregon students as being hippie marijuana smokers who go to a "party school" in my gay history: Thomas Kraemer, "Corvallis, Oregon State University gay activism 1969-2004," p. 1 printed to PDF from OutHistory.org in 2010 permanently stored by the OSU Scholars Archives @ OSU.
I finally have some good evidence to cite that confirms the U of O's party school reputation, which was reported in the Eugene, Oregon newspaper article by Jeff Wright, "UO in top 20 -- for parties. The Princeton Review publication also ranks Oregon at No. 7 in the "Reefer Madness" category," The Register-Guard, posted Aug. 5, 2014, which was reprinted in the Oregon State University student newspaper as "University of Oregon among top 20 party schools," Barometer, Aug. 6, 2014, p. 2. Below are some selected quotes from the article:
IThe UO was 19th on the list of top 20 party schools -- the only Pac-12 school to make the list, but far behind Syracuse.
Stanford, meanwhile, claimed its own bragging rights: The Pac-12 rival ranked No. 1 in the country for being lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender-friendly. . .
For better and for worse, Oregon State University did not rank in the top 20 in any category.
Rounding out the top five party schools were: the University of Iowa (last year's winner), the University of California-Santa Barbara, West Virginia University and the University of Illinois at Urbana--Champaign.
Repeating at the top of the "stone-cold sober" schools was Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah.
PRINCETON REVIEW RANKINGS - All lists: See www.princetonreview.com/college-rankings.aspx
OSU students do party, based on the complaints made to local City of Corvallis Police officials concerning noise, etc. However, in my opinion the partying done by OSU Students is colored by the prevalence of so-called "square" science, engineering and agricultural students who have a different style of partying that seems square to the "normies" on campus. For example, science and engineering students have been known to calculate the amount of alcohol required to achieve certain safe blood concentration levels of intoxication to prevent many of the problems these career-minded students may have with their future employers' background checks. Also, of course, the Agricultural students are often from conservative rural backgrounds where everyone is polite and looks the other way when you whoop it up, as long as you meet certain country ethical standards of decorum, which would not get you a party school reputation. The sociology of college partying would make for a good Ph.D. thesis.
UPDATE 8/24/2014 - With a misspelled headline, the Sunday print edition of the main Portland, Oregon newspaper mentioned Oregon State University as being "welcoming and supporting students who are gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender," according to the Campus Pride Group -- Betsy Hammond, "Schools: Oregon colleges praised for LBGT (sic) support, services," Sunday Oregonian, Aug. 24, 2014, p. A6 published online as "Oregon's three big public universities among nation's most gay-friendly," oregonlive.com posted August 15, 2014. The article quoted "Portland State officials (who) said they strive to provide an inclusive environment for students across the gender and sexuality spectrum. PSU attracts LGBT students because of its strong academics and services -- and has the additional lure of being located in Portland, versus a Corvallis" -- OUCH, but I like s small college town. such as Corvallis, Oregon home of Oregon State University, better than any big city because you can walk or bike everywhere. It is only a short drive to Portland, if you want more gay entertainment, but hey, you have to study sometime!
