Vomiting in the street, shattering car windows, and losing parts of one’s memory: the college nightly routine and American dream.

 

Across the country, college students dress up night after night with plans to get wasted, then wake up for their 8am class the next morning and do it all again. This unhealthy routine is all too familiar for Penn State University students, as this Pennsylvania partying powerhouse was ranked as the 2009 #1 Party School in America by the Princeton Review. A four-act podcast by This American Life reviews numerous aspects of Penn State’s party scene identity, and PSU staff outline their attempts to keep students safe.

 

First on the podcast is host Ira Glass and producer Sarah Koenig share a 1AM chat on the porch of Koenig’s home a few blocks away from Penn State’s campus. A pack of drunk girls urinate on Koenig’s lawn, street sign looters traipse by, and booms of trash cans being dropkicked echo through the streets. Koenig admonishes the inebriated party-dress wearing girls, expresses her frustration for college kids’ disrespect to State College residents’ property, then reminisces back to her college when she recalled being equally as wild.

 

To a majority of students, partying is an undeniable feature of Penn State University’s culture. Although drinking and substance abuse is absolutely not necessary for having fun, going out to get drunk is very engrained in people’s minds as “the Penn State student experience”. This unsafe ideology that drinking is necessary for a good time can instantly turn the tide from a fun night out to the end of a student’s life.

 

This commonplace that all PSU students are partiers and must partake in them to fit in is unfortunately present, but fortunately not accurate. Although this type of socializing may be the “common sense” choice to some students in order to meet friends and enjoy themselves, it does not need to be this way.

 

Penn State has worked to create events on Friday and Saturday nights to steer crowds away from alcoholic escapades, including club meetings, concert events, and movie nights. There are adequate options for students who do not wish to party, which focus on having fun in sobriety. However, despite these deterrents from partying, many PSU students do end up drinking every weekend.

 

Many students have died due to injuries and foul decisions while intoxicated, which has inspired PSU administrators to create a safety course that denounces excessive drinking, emphasizes the importance of not leaving someone alone at a party, tells students how many drinks are too many, and endorses looking out for others so they are not taken advantage of. These administrators are understandably frustrated, but not surprised, by the fact that students still partake in dangerous drunken behaviors even after creating clubs and curriculum.

 

Police officers patrol State College to keep everyone safe and lay down the law. On a positive note, there is very little violent crime in this town, and fraternities typically have regulations to not make parties out of hand. Are these regulations always followed perfectly? No, but there is some comfort in trying to create a safe environment for the parties which are bound to happen.

 

The focus on Penn State football and tailgating elevates drinking as a part of PSU culture, which does not assist in lowering binge drinking habits. The podcast describes a student’s twenty-first birthday where she, her entire family, and other groups all tailgated together. An alumna from a separate group brings the birthday girl a drink, despite not knowing her, because she recalls her partying days of youth as a student. Similarly to the aforementioned Sarah Koenig, watching a college student party is a common source of nostalgia for alumni.

 

Generations of partying history have occurred at Penn State, but it does not define this university. The education is top-notch, the town is quaint and pretty, and there are endless opportunities to better oneself as a person during their college experience.

 

Will a student’s Penn State experience be jeopardized if they choose not to party? Absolutely not. Will the party scenes end anytime soon? Most likely not. No matter how someone chooses to spend their time outside of studying, Penn State has a plethora of wonderful opportunities and is a welcoming home for all who attend.