Earlier this year, Maclean’s magazine released a ranking of Canada’s top party schools. According to the data collected by the magazine, Carleton ranked number 15 on the list, based on the average number of hours partied by students each week.
St. Francis Xavier University (St. FX) in Antigonish, NS, Bishop’s University in Sherbrooke, Que, and Queen’s University in Kingston, Ont took the top three spots.
The University of Manitoba, Simon Fraser University, and York University were at the bottom of the list, with the least amount of hours partied on average.
Nicole Orr, a second-year business administration student at St. FX, said she parties regularly during the year.
Students and alumni use the school’s homecoming event as an opportunity to network and get back in touch with friends, Orr said. She added part of the school’s party reputation is due to the location of the school.
“St. FX is in a very small town and so the students really put in an effort to make their years here enjoyable and not boring, like the town can be sometimes,” Orr said.
St. FX came in first place on Maclean’s list, with students partying an average of around eight hours per week.
Homecoming is also a yearly highlight at Queen’s University, according to Evelyn Newman, a first-year science student at the school. Newman said homecoming is an event for both past and present Queen’s students.
“I’m not kidding, when you walk out the door at 9 a.m., you’re seeing alumni doing keg stands at people’s houses . . . It’s a pretty big deal here, everyone’s out, everyone’s wearing their tri-colour stuff, it’s so much fun,” she said.
Newman said there are also “volunteers, cops, and security everywhere year round,” due to the party scene.
School spirit and the party scene are similar at St. FX and Queen’s, according to both Orr and Newman. They said school spirit is a reason for the numerous parties students hold during the school year.
But partying isn’t the number one reason why people attend university, Newman said. At Queen’s, students make time to kick back on the weekend by getting all their school work done during the week, she added.
“We’re a school that’s like ‘work hard, play hard.’” Newman said.
Being crowned the top partiers in Canada comes with some downsides, as well. Queen’s made the news in late 2016 when photos circulated from a racist costume party, where attendees dressed in costumes representative of racial stereotypes.
Orr said she isn’t proud of St. FX’s top “party school” reputation.
“Personally I hate the title. Some kids joke about it, but it tarnishes our reputation,” Orr said. “When employers see the X ring they automatically associate it with partying, and that’s not something I want to be known for . . . St. FX has a lot of tradition and creates a sense of community.”
At the other end of the list from Maclean’s magazine is the University of Toronto (U of T), which placed 42 on the list of 47 schools across Canada. Students at U of T said they partied just over two hours each week on average.
Emma Tallon, a first-year U of T humanities student living in residence, said she believes students at the U of T have priorities, and partying isn’t one of them.
“I think the ranking is fairly reasonable . . . U of T is an extremely academic oriented school, which means that many of the students do not have time.”
– File photo
