Earlier today, social media were buzzing with the news that, after years of couch-burning, beer-guzzling and Halloween-hosting, Ohio University has claimed the top spot in the Princeton Review's "Top Party School" rankings.
When I saw the news, my immediate reaction was to do a YouTube search for Ludacris' song "Number One Spot," but once that was out of my system, I headed to the Princeton Review site for a glance at the rankings I really cared about:
Best College Newspaper.
Last year, The Post was left off of the list, and I wrote a blog post about why I didn't exactly see that as a bad thing. But no matter how unscientific the poll, I'm proud to relay the news that our paper has been ranked the 12th best in the nation and is the only Ohio paper to make the list.
And we're in pretty good company.
UNC-Chapel Hill's Daily Tar Heel topped the list, followed by The Yale Daily News. I'll list the complete Top 20 at the bottom of this column.
Although being listed in these rankings isn't exactly the epitome of journalistic prestige, I do think they're indicative of the hard work we've put in at The Post during the last year. We completely overhauled our website, rolled out five new Twitter accounts and set the bar for the usage of social and interactive media for student-run outlets on campus.
Those innovations won't stop now that we've made the list. For example, check out the way we used Storify today to show how Ohio University students, administrators and alumni were reacting to the party school rankings.
And don't forget our 2011 Orientation Guide — last I checked, we're the only outlet on campus that puts forth this kind of effort to help incoming students.
Our walls also became home to a few new plaques and trophies this year, as Post staff members snagged a number of statewide, professional awards from the Associated Press.
I touched base with my former boss and good friend Joe Ragazzo to get his reactions to today's rankings and a little reflection on his year as Post editor.
"It's very rewarding that in a year in which we were so focused, as a staff, on adding to and enhancing The Post, whether it be through redesigning the website, enhancing multimedia or shifting toward being a 24/7 news service, we were still able to put out a very high quality product each and every day," Joe said. "I'm very proud of The Post's staff."
I'm proud, too. Having worked side by side with a staff of more than 100 people who constantly prioritize our coverage over their classes, homework and significant others, I couldn't be more proud of today's rankings.
With that said, now is no time to pat ourselves on the back. This will be a year of continued growth for The Post, and we won't rest until we top the best college newspaper list.
I reached out to and congratulated the outgoing editor of The Daily Tar Heel today but also passed along a warning for her successor.
As Ludacris would say: "We're coming for that number one spot."
Wesley Lowery is a senior studying journalism and editor of The Post. Send him links to Ludacris videos at wl372808@ohiou.edu
TOP COLLEGE NEWSPAPERS
1. The Daily Tar Heel - UNC-Chapel Hill
2. The Yale Daily News - Yale University
3. The Badger Herald - University of Wisconsin
4. The Brown Daily Herald - Brown University
5. The Battalion - Texas A&M University
6. The Daily Collegian - Penn State University
7. The Daily Northwestern - Northwestern University
8. The Diamondback - University of Maryland
9. The Independent Florida Alligator - University of Florida
10. The Daily Texan - University of Texas
11. The Minnesota Daily - University of Minnesota
12. The Post - Ohio University
13. The Cornell Daily Sun - Cornell University
14. The Daily Mississippian - University of Mississippi
15. The Daily Campus - University of Connecticut
16. The Daily Kansan - University of Kansas
17. The Daily Gamecock - University of South Carolina
18. The Daily Orange - Syracuse University
19. The Hilltop - Howard University
20. The Tufts Daily - Tufts University
