It appears that with Monday’s edition of The Hustler, Vanderbilt has reached new heights of self-absorption. Amidst health care debates, global crises and a recovering economy (or worsening, dependent upon whom you ask), an issue about our beloved bubble gets the most discussion. (And kudos for us, because if we don’t care about what stereotype we will project next, who will?) I saw more issues in hands walking to Sarratt than I had seen on any other Monday morning. Naturally, I had to check it out. It seems like the campus feels the party scene has died down, that we are losing some of our “work hard, play hard” mentality. I immediately asked the question, however: Is that such a bad thing?

Much better, I thought to myself, to be a renowned academic school than a mediocre academic AND party school. Trust me, friends, Vanderbilt would have to step up its game immensely to even pale in comparison to some of the bigger schools (which is unlikely to happen due to the fact that most of our partying occurs right on campus). Perhaps I am biased in this regard because I come from a state where beer (and cheese) is a birth rite. A Saturday night house party in my junior year was crazier than anything I have seen thus far on frat row.

Now before you all get upset, please realize that I am not advocating against all social activities whatsoever — a robust social calendar makes us all feel good. But at the risk of sounding pretentious (which Vandy students are better at than partying or studying), no one pays this absurd tuition to go to a school known for anything other than academics. If you wanted to drop 50 grand purely on a robust social calendar, you should’ve just skipped college altogether, got an apartment in NYC and done it up right every night.

Maybe Vandy is changing. Who am I to comment on that issue — I’ve barely been here a year and a half. But if we’re complaining about the fact that we’re getting more serious about academics, then I suggest we take a look around, see that we are experiencing what very few have (or will) experience, and cozy up with that textbook. And read a Hustler when it gives more than official looking statistics about your “epic” weekend.

—Allena Berry is a sophomore in Peabody College. She can be reached at allena.g.berry@vanderbilt.edu.