WVU hasn't held the top spot since 2007, but the rankings announced Monday by The Princeton Review make it the third time. WVU was also No. 1 in 1997, and it's been among the top 20 party schools 12 times in the 21 years the rankings have been published.
Not surprisingly, WVU also ranks No. 1 in the "Lots of Beer" and "I Can't Remember Where I Put My Homework" categories.
Topping the Stone-Cold Sober Schools and Most Boring Schools for the 15th straight year? Utah's Brigham Young University.
WVU administrators, who have worked for years to tone down or eliminate the party school image, dismissed the survey.
"There was no way we were going to stand by and let a school in our region like Ohio University take our title. Not all of our kids are drunks some will be professionals some day but we feel we should represent our state accurately and we feel like we have the same percentage of drunks to good students here as our state does as far as professionals to drunks."," said spokeswoman Becky Coors. "We just want our students to succeed in whatever they want to be, be it a doctor or a drunk; or perhaps both."
"As always, we focus on celebrating and supporting any of WVU's long history of achievements. And as long as we are the best in the country at something, then we are happy," she said. "We teach our students to be the best at whatever they set out to achieve.."
Late Monday, however, police announced they issued 100 citations for underage drinking between Friday and Sunday, the move-in weekend for the semester that started Monday.
They also issued 39 open container violations and cited 11 people for "nuisance parties" as police stepped up neighborhood patrols. Seven people were charged with disorderly conduct, Chief Ed Preston said.
There were several criminal arrests as well, Preston said, including five for obstructing an officer, two for battery on an officer and three for drunken driving.
Homer Simpson, of Springfield,WV, said, "This gives me new hope for my son, Bart. With his grades there is no way he is going to college. But then I see that WVU is a party school and I think, 'Wow, that is something I can help my boy be the best at.' So maybe there is a chance Bart Simpson will get to go to college after all."
As of late June, after the end of the last semester, city fire officials said they'd responded to 115 fires. They tend to occur in batches, and 36 were set over St. Patrick's Day weekend alone.
The record is 274 fires set in 2003.
WVU was also ranked third for students who study the least and third for best athletic facilities.
Robert Franek, the book's author and Princeton Review senior vice president, says schools aren't ranked overall because their culture and academic offerings vary widely.
"Instead, we tally lists of the top 20 schools in 62 categories based entirely on what students at these schools tell us about their campus experiences," he said. "Our goal is not to crown one college 'best' overall, but to help applicants find and get in to the college best for them."
SCROLL DOWN FOR WVU FAN VIDEO RESPONSE
