Hanszen ranked in top 15 party dorms in the US

By Rachel Marcus and Mathison Ingham     10/6/11 7:00pm

Wiess College may host Rice University's most infamous party, Night of Decadence, but Hanszen College alone made CampusSplash's list. CampusSplash, a website known for ranking colleges nationwide, received over 9,000 votes in its poll, and Hanszen rolled in at number 12, surprising many students across campus.

After hearing the news, Hanszen junior Zack Panos echoed the opinions of many students on campus.

"Wait, that's actually hilarious," Panos said.

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The ranking, however, did not surprise some students.

"Relative to other colleges at Rice, the Hanszen party scene is really accepting of both drinkers and non-drinkers as well as people from all different social scenes at Rice," McMurtry College junior Fran Iyer said. Iyer co-advised at Hanszen this year.

"We party as a family. The rest of Rice never sees it, but [the ranking] comes as no surprise to Hanszenites, really," Hanszen senior Christoph Meyer said.

CampusSplash described Hanszen as "not the nicest dorm at Rice University," but also said "students seem to think that the great social environment can make up for that downfall."

Hanszen President senior Coco Owens feels that the good parties reflect the college's atmosphere.

"I have had no better time in my life than with people from Hanszen," Owens said. "It's not about our facilities, it's not even about the theme of our parties, it's about the people. We're laid back and we like to have a good time, with ourselves and anyone who wants to have fun with us. It's our welcoming nature ... a party has to have a good host!"

Hanszen is flattered by the ranking and hopes to continue their reputation throughout the coming years, Hanszen College sophomore Austin Coe said.

"Hanszen went through a period where our events were pretty lame, but Mardi Gras used to be one of the biggest parties on campus back in the day," Coe, a Hanszen social coordinator, said. "We're working to bring back that tradition and hope to live up to the hype of being one of the top party dorms in the country."

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