Maclean’s released it’s annual list of top party schools in Canada, ranking Carleton University in 15th place alongside 47 other post-secondary institutions.
This year, the average Raven said they party 3.51 hours per week, a half-hour bump up from 3.04 hours in 2016. Carleton’s stats were slightly above the national average of 3.27 hours partied each week.
The results were determined from a survey Maclean’s sent out to over 17,000 students across the country. Maclean’s divided the total number of hours partied each week by the number of students that responded, to get the average number of party hours at each school.
David Andrews, Carleton University Students’ Association (CUSA) vice-president (finance), said there are several reasons why Carleton students reported partying a bit more this year compared to last.
“I think one of the biggest reasons why we did climb is not because we’ve been cranking up our partying or going crazy, but it’s because of the community the university has been trying to build and the things that our sports teams have had the ability to do,” Andrews said. “In terms of parties, okay, maybe there are a couple extra parties, but they’re celebrating good things that are happening on campus. But, do I think we are a strictly party school? Absolutely not.”
St. Francis Xavier University topped the list in first place for the second year in a row. Students at the school in Antigonish, Nova Scotia said they partied just over eight hours per week on average.
York University was featured at the bottom of the list, as the school that partied the least, at just 1.82 party hours per week.
Ravens may be happy to know that they finished a full five spots ahead of their rivals at the University of Ottawa (U of O).
Second-year Carleton law student Nick Clark said he understands why the two Ottawa universities received mediocre spots in the rankings.
“I mean Ottawa is fun and all but there’s not many different bars here, so it can get boring after a while,” Clark said. “I’m probably at around 1.5 hours per week . . . My partying hours have decreased a lot since first year, as I’ve probably gotten used to going out downtown.”
Carleton has not faced backlash for its partying habits in recent years. This is in contrast to schools like Queen’s University, which recently held an off-campus race-themed costume party that caused debate.
Western University also had its homecoming moved to a later date this year due to safety concerns associated with unsanctioned street parties. The homecoming date change was intended to deter the number of students partying in the streets, which Western said had caused safety concerns in the past.
Abby Macdonald, a fourth-year Carleton psychology student and member of Phi Sigma Sigma sorority, said she doesn’t think the list implies that student partying is necessarily a “bad thing.”
“Just because you’re seen as a partier, doesn’t mean you’re not studious or you’re not doing well in school,” Macdonald said. “So I think that it could kind of be misinterpreted. I wouldn’t say because we’re on that list it makes us any worse of a school.”
– Photo by Angela Tilley
