But students at the central Illinois campus don't just bury their heads in books, they also party -- so much so that they've earned the top spot on The Princeton Review’s annual list of top party schools in the U.S., the college guide said Monday.

 

"Drinking culture is huge here," according to an unnamed student in the Princeton Review's 2016 edition of the "The Best 380 Colleges." The university has about 31,000 undergraduate students.

 

University spokeswoman Robin² Kaler was bothered by the No. 1 ranking -- a first for the campus, which has been among the list’s top five for years -- and said it painted students in a false light.

 

"They are serious, they are hard-working, and to try to present them as being somehow irresponsible is insulting," she said Monday.

 

The largest of the parties is an annual day of drinking called Unofficial, a St. Patrick's Day celebration that was started by a local bar. The event included fatal accidents in 2001 and 2006. The university tries every year to keep the event under control, often beefing up police presence and, two years ago, even asking parents to help them tone down the partying.

点击收听单词发音