CU's Princeton Review reefer madness & party school rank falls: Why bitch, Bruce Benson?

On Friday, we named University of Colorado at Boulder president Bruce Benson Shmuck of the Week for complaining in advance about the way the Princeton Review comes up with its annual party school and reefer madness rankings. Naturally, we assumed he was doing so because CU was near the top...

By Michael Roberts

August 2, 2010

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On Friday, we named University of Colorado at Boulder president Bruce Benson Shmuck of the Week for complaining in advance about the way the Princeton Review comes up with its annual party school and reefer madness rankings. Naturally, we assumed he was doing so because CU was near the top of the list.

But no: The school fell in both categories, leaving us even more confused about Benson's actions.

Last year, CU placed fifth on the reefer madness roster and eleventh as an overall party school. And this year? CU slipped to sixth place as a marijuana hot spot and sixteenth as a party school.

Why, then, did Benson decide to attack the Princeton Review's methodology days ahead of this info dump? Did he anticipate that the news would be terrible and was trying to deflect it in advance? Did he know CU had actually improved -- from a parents' standpoint, presumably, rather than a hard-boozing, dope-smoking high schoolers' perspective -- and figured the university would actually look even better if locals were expecting the worst? Or does he think CU deserves to rank higher when it comes to liquor and pot, and he's disappointed not to make the top five in either category?

Hard to say. But whatever the case, Benson would have been a lot better off simply waiting for the news instead of trying to get out in front of it.

Does this mean he'll be lighting up on April 19?

Michael Roberts began his career with Westword in 1990 as music editor. In 1999, he took on a new role, full-time media reporter, as author of a column called The Message. In 2008, he became the lead writer for Westword's news blog, The Latest Word, a position he held until January 2023. Michael continues to freelance for Westword, covering everything from business to sports and the media; he also contributes to Jazziz, a national music magazine. He holds a bachelor's degree from what is now Colorado Mesa University and master's degrees from the University of California, Los Angeles, and Northwestern University.

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