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San Diego State was shedding its party image...until Playboy came calling

By Maggie Grainger

December 12, 2005

San Diego--It’s no secret that when it comes to babes, booze and debauchery San Diego State is the place find it all.

Located only 15 minutes from the beach, the sprawling campus is known for some of the biggest party animals in, not only southern California, but the nation. With over 35,000 students, 50 fraternities and sororities and a thriving bar and beach scene at their fingertips, it’s no wonder people flock to the university for a good time and, oh yeah, a quality education.

This isn’t the first time the school has been bestowed this honor. Back in 1987 the school was number three on the magazine’s Top 40 list, and made the cut yet again three years ago in 2002 when it was ranked number 10 out of 25 schools.

“It should certainly not be indicative of SDSU,” Dean of Students Darlene Willis was quoted saying in The Daily Aztec, the independent newspaper of SDSU. “We have wonderful academic programs that make us SDSU….(The Playboy award) is one of the cons."

It is true that SDSU does have some of the best academic programs in the country, including a top business school and other highly regarded departments. At times, though, some feel these positives are overshadowed by the school’s notorious reputation for alcohol consumption and wild late night antics.

But the stigma hasn’t stopped people from enrolling. In fact, this year was record breaking for the school, with over 52,000 people applying for 8,000 spots in fall 2006. Whether incoming freshman are enrolling because of Playboy or their personal futures, we’ll never know. But SDSU has definitely become more selective in the students it chooses to attend the school.

Even though SDSU is trying to focus on books and not boobs, it is hard to deny that it has an overwhelming number of women strolling down Centennial Walkway and sitting studiously in class. Playboy didn’t ignore this fact either.

The magazine decided to hold open auditions back in the middle of November for SDSU girls to pose in the upcoming party issue and the turnout was impressive.

“They don’t know—I didn’t tell them,” said 20 year-old Kat Balasaseda about her parents’ reactions to her winning a coveted spot in the world’s most famous gentleman’s magazine. “I told my mom but I didn’t tell my stepmom or dad.

“People know my dad and were like, ‘What is your dad going to say?’ I’m not going to worry about it until the issue comes out in April.”

Balasaseda, a communications major with an emphasis in public relations, is one of about ten girls chosen from State for the special pictorial.

“No one told me not to do it,” she said. “My friends said that their sororities threatened to kick them out if they went to the audition, but that didn’t stop some girls.

“I mean it’s Playboy—it’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”

She said she had no idea who her competition was because each girl had individual audition appointment times.

Balasaseda said she had a choice of posing fully nude, topless, implied nude (i.e.: hands covering breasts, etc.) or fully clothed. She opted to go topless and pointed out that if you checked off that you wanted to be fully clothed your chances of being picked were slim.

She was given $400 compensation for posing.

Balasaseda doesn’t believe the school fully deserved getting the honor of top party school.

“Everyone always thinks of State as this huge party school and I don’t really think it is that big of one,” she said. “I know people that went here back in the day and that was when it was a real party school—now it’s harder to get in and there is more of a focus on academics.”

“Any school can be a party school now.”

It seems to be a consensus among State students that academics are the party pooper in the keggar of life.

“I was really surprised we made the list again,” said Annie Harding, 21, a public administration senior. “Freshman year was way more crazy then this semester ever was.” It was during Harding’s freshman year that SDSU made the list for the second time.

She does, however, believe the city of San Diego as a whole should be considered the top party city in the country.

“We never stop,” she said. “There is always a Taco Tuesday or a Margarita Monday somewhere out there and Pacific Beach and Downtown get crazy.”

A desk clerk at one of the SDSU dorms, who wishes to remain anonymous, said that although the party scene has calmed down for her, it is still going strong for the underclassmen.

“I’ll have students stumbling in on a random Tuesday night,” she said. “It reminds me of my freshman year and all the stuff I used to get away with.”

Nowadays, it seems SDSU students aren’t getting away with much.

Numerous cops patrol the College Area every night looking for drunk drivers and parties to break up. Fraternity Row, which officially opened in 2002, is no longer allowed to serve hard alcohol during approved frat parties and the school offers counseling for students caught drinking in the dorms.

It’s a whole new era for the famed party school and a turning point many current students and soon-to-be alumni have a hard time accepting.

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Maggie Grainger is currently a journalism senior at San Diego State. When she’s not trying to piece together events from the previous evening, she enjoys playing poker with the boys, snowboarding and drinking copious amounts of coffee.