In the This American Life podcast, the intertwining culture of football, alcohol, and parties at Penn State was examined. This podcast occurred in the wake of Penn State being rated the number one party school in the country. The podcast analyzes the behavior of the students, the atmosphere supporting such behavior, and the possible solutions to the problems it creates. Additionally, Penn State has landmark physical locations on the campus that represent the student and faculty mentality, and perhaps offer more insight about the pervasive culture here.
The first visible ideology I noticed was a foundational element to American society: respect for privacy, private property, and finally law and order. The drunken college students described in the prologue of the podcast clearly disregard all of these basic tenets of American life, and as a result they provoke intense feelings of disgust and disbelief from local residents and from many readers. Public urination, especially on someone else’s lawn, is highly taboo. This is not the case in all cultures, but in America, disrespecting someone’s property is deemed highly offensive, and the fact that these college students are engaging in such behavior demonstrates how uncontrolled their behavior becomes following a day of intense tailgating. In many foreign countries, nobody would think twice about this.
The crown jewel of the party life is drunkenness, or at least some measure of intoxication. Drinking makes people feel good, it makes them less socially awkward, and it helps wash away the unpleasant sensations of stress or failure. Drinking is a commonplace for human beings, because for millennia humans have gone to bars to drown their sorrows or partaken in heavy drink at parties in quest of a thrilling time. For many students, college is the first real opportunity they have to engage in regular drinking and partying; it is also the final point in their lives where they do not have to really worry about working a full time job or paying bills. College is considered the high point of life, and so students and many parents (as demonstrated at the 21 year old girl’s birthday party) believe in milking it for all that it’s worth.
Another strong ideology of Western civilization, indeed virtually all cultures, is the belief in social hierarchy. The bouncers of the frat party keep out anyone who is not in Greek Life or a sports team, proving this ideology holds in the college environment as well. More than just that: the football players are (in the eyes of most) in an entirely different league from the average student. Seniors and juniors are above sophomores and freshmen. There are many facets to the social hierarchy, and one of the biggest is of course, physical beauty. College students understand this, and one of the reasons that I believe causes so much extreme and dangerous behavior from the freshman (more so than the seniors even) is that by getting crazy or by being seductive, underclassmen can claw their way into a position on the social ladder that lets them get into parties. For males, this means accepting insane dares, playing drinking games, and kowtowing to the alphas of the group. For females, this means “dressing slutty,” flirting with the fraternity higher-ups, and sometimes trading sexual access for access into exclusive events. This all connects to another commonplace in the human tradition: the struggle to fit in and be accepted. College students are highly vulnerable to peer pressure, and so they engage in promiscuous, dangerous, or simply stupid behavior in order to compensate for a lack of wealth, good looks, or talent.
Discussing the more physical commonplaces visible on Penn State, the most obvious is perhaps the HUB. While HUB is an acronym for Hetzel Union Building, it aptly represents the role it plays on campus. Within it are large meeting rooms for clubs, a wide variety of restaurants and treat vendors, comfortable study/hangout areas, and even the sole on-campus bookstore. The HUB is centrally located on campus, a natural crossroads for all students. Speaking from personal experience, despite having more bike racks around it than any other building, the bike racks at the HUB are always the most filled on campus. Even for students who do not regularly frequent it, the HUB is simply a known hearth of the campus. It has a high ceiling, bright lighting, and fashionable decor. The HUB shows the high level of value colleges place on image and physical environment, rather than the more practical (the dorms, which are the crummiest buildings by far on campus). The HUB represents a physical meeting area on the one hand and the embodiment of college obsession with image on the other. The obsession with convenience and image is not unique to colleges, but is shared with the students themselves, hence why the building might be so popular for students.
One additional commonplace on the campus is the IM Building. Within the IM is a massive space filled with almost every imaginable type of sports room and equipment. Whether you want to run on a track, lift weights, practice karate, climb a rock wall, or play volleyball, the IM has something for everyone. Even though there are clearly miniature worlds within the walls, everyone is in the same place. The IM is a place for hardcore trainers and for playful friend groups to knock around a ball. It is simply a house for all forms of physical activity, and even at 11 p.m. it buzzes with a focused energy. The underlying ideologies visible might be the element of showmanship and the prioritization of weight lifting. The weight room is not only the first area next to the entrance, but it is surrounded by windows so that anyone can see the guys (and occasional girl) working out within. The cardio is literally and figuratively above most people’s heads: the track itself and the cardio machines are on the second floor. The typically more casual and playful options like badminton are in the far end of the building, which reconfirms the idea that the real priority of the facility is the weightlifting. Three people generally sit behind the service desk of the weight room, compared with the one or two people usually patrolling the entire track, cardio, and team sports area. While the IM is a commonplace for those engaging in sports, it is also a demonstration of the value of traditional male sports like football and wrestling over cardio intensive sports or simply recreational pastimes.
The facility I will briefly address is of course, Beaver Stadium. What it represents is obvious to the point where the average student on the street could roughly describe it. First, the size. Beaver Stadium houses more than 100,000 people on a campus of less than 50,000. Attending Penn State football games is a chance for alumni to relive their college experience for a weekend, and so many pay big bucks for the opportunity. Secondly, Beaver stadium dominates the entire surrounding area. All around it is parking spaces: the lots, the grass, the streets. I went on a hike this past weekend and saw the great shining reflection of tens of thousands of motor vehicles from atop Mt. Nittany. It might not be the center of campus, but on weekends, the campus literally feels like a mere extension of the stadium. Finally, beyond the game itself, the stadium represents the power of Penn State, the pride of students and alumni, the hallmark of the largest university in the entire country. It means great business for local bars and restaurants. It feeds the local economy millions of dollars each year. Tailgating is the bridge between football and party culture. The great swathes of grass parking become great swathes of drinking and socializing. Beaver stadium shapes the very earth around it, and attending at least one game is an absolute necessity for all students, regardless of one’s interest in football. The building captures the size and intensity of the Penn State spirit, and of course, conveys the troubling belief that college sports tower over college studies, just as the stadium towers over the libraries and dorms and lecture halls of the university.
In conclusion, there are many commonplaces and ideologies present at Penn State, both cultural and physical. From the party culture to the most popular campus buildings, the commonplaces of students and the underlying American culture that creates them are manifested across all levels of campus design and student behavior. Finding them is easy. Realizing when they are found is the trick.