Although the Princeton Review ranked UW-Madison the number one party school, the ranking stirred little response from the university's alumni. However, such a distinction could have negative long-term financial repercussions for the Greek community.
The ranking is based on a voluntary questionnaire composed of five categories: how much alcohol students regularly consume, overall drug use on campus, popularity of fraternities and sororities, and hours of study spent outside the classroom.
In the past five years, UW-Madison has ranked ninth (in 2002), tenth (2003), second (2004), third (2005), and first (2006) out of the top 20 party schools.
Although this is not currently a problem at UW-Madison, one facet of campus that could possibly see repercussions is the Greek scene, according to Sigma Alpha Epsilon National Director of Communications Brandon Weghorst.
\One thing that we have learned when it comes to party school rankings is it also correlates with chapters that have a lot of problems with chapter operations and risk management violations,"" he said.
According to Weghorst, in the past these types of problems have trickled down to affect how much money is generated for that chapter.
""Alumni are very loyal to their own chapter and they enjoy being able to go back to their actual house, but if the chapter is no longer there or sanctioned, they are less likely to give money,"" he said.
""At the University of Colorado, which usually topped that listing, that chapter had a number of risk management violations and was closed down. It just recently came back and we have lost a lot of our alumni donations,"" Weghorst said. ""If a chapter is closed, then the alumni are less likely to give to the university and to the foundation.""
According to Max Klubchak, former president of UW-Madison's SAE, alumni relations do indeed hinge on housekeeping issues like violations and how well the house is maintained.
""If [alumni] come to the house and it's a shithole and no one respects the house they think, 'Well, why do I really want to contribute to you guys just screwing around,"" he said.
Klubchak said the house had to work hard over the last three years to rebuild alumni relations, which has included improving their chapter's standing with the national office. ""Nationals"" will crack down on chapters with numerous violations, since the main concern is representing the positive aspects of the fraternity.
""The nationals can't be represented as purely people who get [messed] up,"" he said.
According to UW-Madison senior Lauren Damico, president of All-Greek Council, alumni can relate to the party scene, but see many other positive aspects to both the university and Greek life.
""If the chapters have low numbers of membership, maybe [alumni donations] would affect them so they need to look for revenue outside current members,"" Damico said.
Most important is the ability to communicate the positive accomplishments to alumni said Sean Sobel, president of Tau Kappa Epsilon.
""We don't contact our alumni if we have a good party,"" he said. ""They are more interested in how well we are represented on campus.""
According to UW-Madison Alumni Association Vice President Cheryl Porior-Mayhew, though the infamous ranking has not evoked an overwhelming response from the school's alumni, but some concern has still been expressed.
Alumni have been upset about the ranking because they do not want the university to be known as solely a party school when so many other programs are offered, she said.
""People are proud of their degrees and there's prestige that goes along with their degree,"" Porior-Mayhew said. ""No one wants their degree looked at in an inflammatory way.""
UW Foundation President Sandy Wilcox said, as far as contributions, the ranking has had little statistical impact but is more a source of embarrassment for the university.
""Generally, our alumni are not proud of that [ranking], but at the same time I think they take it with a grain of salt,"" Wilcox said.
