Watch out. Any school that boasts this mentality does not deserve the attention of serious students and conscientious candidates, including your child. “Playing hard” does not refer to the school’s athletic program.
As the evening news has demonstrated these past few years, a school that portrays itself as hard working and hard drinking is a catastrophe waiting to happen. Take, for example, the case of Washington State University (WSU), which has suffered several embarrassing incidents in recent years, including a student riot in 1998 and ongoing problems at some of its fraternities.
In an April 16, 2000, article on Spokane.net, University of Washington police captain and WSU alumnus Randy Stegmeier noted, “As an institution, WSU has suffered a major black eye.” Regent Ken Alhadeff and other WSU officials also express their concerns that a pervasive party school image will hurt recruitment, attract students who are not serious about education, and devalue the degrees of those who are.
WSU faces the prospect of being a good school with a bad image. At a school like WSU, where female students have posed for Playboy with the school pennant as a backdrop, a good deal of press attention has focused on out-of-control fraternities, and the effects of the riot linger in the me
