Kansas University senior Eric Slivinski remembers well the night he watched his drunken, passed-out friend being carried on a futon and left nearly naked on the front porch of a nearby sorority.
College parties in Lawrence just get crazy like that sometimes.
So Slivinski wasn't surprised to learn that Playboy magazine is ranking KU the ninth-best party school in the nation in its November issue. The magazine will hit shelves Monday.
"I'm impressed, but I think we can do better," the Overland Park senior said. "I think we deserved much higher."
It's the second month in a row KU has been mentioned in the men's magazine. The October issue featured three KU women posing nude for the "Girls of the Big 12" pictorial.
Tonganoxie senior Carey Oroke was one of those women. Though she's "not the kind of girl that gets naked at parties," she said she had enjoyed some rowdy revels.
"I totally think that Lawrence is a really good party school," Oroke said. "If it's a warm night, then you'll have people everywhere."
Though urban legend has it that Playboy ranks party schools every year, it actually hasn't published a similar list since 1987, magazine spokeswoman Theresa Hennessey said. Back then, KU ranked 26th on a list of 40.
When the magazine in January started asking for student testimonials, Hennessey said wild and crazy phone calls, e-mails and letters came pouring in.
"Some of the late-night phone calls were really funny," she said.
The article singles out three Lawrence bars: The Hawk, 1340 Ohio, as the best place to scope out freshman girls; Abe & Jake's Landing, 8 E. Sixth St., as a good place to hang out; and The Crossing, 618 W. 12th St., as the best spot for people-watching.
Crossing owner Brad Durkin said he wasn't sure why his bar earned that distinction. It could be because the front deck is such a popular student destination on nice days and it's on the route for many students walking to and from class.
"Everybody's watching all the freshman girls walk back to GSP-Corbin," Durkin said.
KU officials were less than thrilled with the Playboy ranking.
"It's not a list we'd like to be on. It obscures the fact that KU has a very good reputation," said university spokesman Todd Cohen. "The only silver lining we can find is that apparently our students can read the magazine, can write and are good at creative writing."
Mary Ann Rasnak, whose job as director of KU's Student Development Center is to help students focus on academic life, stopped short of spurning the ranking, based more on students' escapades with sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll.
"Just consider the source," she said.
6News video: KU is named one of the top 10 party schools in the nation
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