Ohio University loves being known. The school goes out of its way to embrace every brand it can: posting graphics of Rufus eating Miami University’s mascot after the Nov. 2 football win; embracing its family reputation with Dad’s Weekend; unveiling new banners still celebrating last year’s March Madness success and more. However, the administration avoids one of OU’s biggest reputations like it’s Jeff Hill: the party school brand.
Niche named OU as the 12th top party school in America for 2022, a title the administration has frequently attempted to eliminate. Its efforts are possibly making a minuscule change, as the school ranked only 16th in The Princeton Review's ranking for 2020, a stark drop from taking first place just five years earlier in 2015. Still, OU continues to rank in the top 20 nationally of nearly 4,000 colleges in the U.S. No matter how hard it tries, the school retains its reputation.
But why is the administration trying? It’s more than a reputation: it’s a fact. OU is a party school, but that doesn’t have to be the bad thing administration makes it out to be. In fact, the school is missing out on an excellent opportunity to attract potential students by vilifying a part of student culture that isn’t going away.
My advice? Embrace it. The university should take this as an opportunity, not a stain on its appearance, and use it in its marketing. If done effectively, it could even help to increase enrollment, a current priority for the administration. Rather than denying it, OU should target potential students who are looking for that environment and treat the reputation as the asset it is.
According to a 2019 Niznik Behavioral Health study, 27% of students attend college to party. That’s an enormous market the university is actively ignoring. There’s nothing wrong with wanting to have fun at college and, as students will continue to do so, the university should embrace it instead of treating it as a problem. If they did, they could appeal to that enormous demographic and potentially use it to increase enrollment.
More so, the “party school” image could be paired with other already marketed features the university offers to attract parents who worry about their students. Tell families “we’re a party school, AND we’re safe” while citing our safety statistics to ease parents’ minds while giving students what they want. According to the Niche ranking, students at OU feel safer on campus than those at all but two other universities in the top 15 party schools, with 84% of students reporting they feel “extremely safe and secure.” If a student is intent on having fun in college by going out and partying, imagine the relief that could be to a parent who worries about their well-being.
This strategy could be applied again and again, attracting both students who want to have fun and parents who want their kids to have a good college experience. Tell families “we’re a party school, AND your student will get a good education,” backed by the academic statistics the school already offers to incoming students. Say “we’re a party school, AND we’re cost-appropriate” while discussing the OHIO Guarantee. There are so many ways to incorporate the already-existent benefits advertised to students while embracing the reputation in a positive way.
Finally, it’s just not worth ignoring. The reputation isn’t going away and, by attempting to tamper it down, the university just appears disconnected from the student body and unable to control something it clearly sees as an issue. By embracing the reputation, the university would foster a better relationship between administration and students. Additionally, if partying was something connected to the university, the school could better regulate it when they felt necessary. Adopting the reputation would make the university appear more in control and connected to their students.
Students like having fun, and that’s not a bad thing, so the administration should stop pretending that it is. Embracing the party school reputation would give OU a leg up in admissions, a better relationship with its students and a brand it can be proud of. Let OU be the party school that it is, and the university is sure to drink in success — even if they’re drinking it out of solo cups.
Katie Millard is a sophomore studying journalism at Ohio University. Please note that the views and opinions of the columnists do not reflect those of The Post. What are your thoughts? Tell Katie by tweeting her at @katie_millard11.
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