BYU again No. 1 stone-cold sober

PROVO — Google would launch a month later, Bill Clinton was president and Harry Potter was 12 and in his second year at Hogwarts in August 1998, the last time BYU wasn't the nation's No. 1 stone-cold sober university in the Princeton Review's annual rankings.

The LDS Church-operated school is America's driest for the 14th straight year, a dynastic reign in the top spot longer than any string of championships the school's football program has ever managed during its best runs.

Wait, 14? Sounds like a two-touchdown lead over the rest of the nation.

It's also the longest string any school has had atop any Princeton Review list, a fact cheered by school and church leaders and students alike.

"This streak of top rankings has become a source of fun and pride for students and alums," BYU spokesman Michael Smart said. "Many tonight might be celebrating No. 14 over root beer or Sprite."

The stretch has left writers grasping for new ways to tell the story. "BYU. Still stone. Still cold. And still sober," wrote Kent Larsen two years ago in a headline on the blog Times and Seasons. How will you top that this year, Mr. Larsen?

This year's rankings, released Monday, are based on a survey of 122,000 students who rated their own schools in dozens of categories based on their campus experiences. The Princeton Review's guidebook, "The Best 376 Colleges: 2012 Edition," goes on sale today.

The responses of BYU students who participated in the unscientific, 80-question online survey put the Provo school first in lowest use of beer and hard liquor, and fourth in lowest-reported use of marijuana. The combination of those categories led to the stone-cold sober ranking.

If BYU is dry, Wheaton College in Illinois is just a drop or two wetter, once again finishing second soberest.

Stone-cold sober might seem a natural result of BYU's honor code, signed by each student, who thereby agree not to use of alcohol or drugs. The relevant survey questions, rated on a scale of 1 to 5, are how widely is beer used at your school? How widely is hard liquor used at your school? How widely is marijuana used at your school? How popular are fraternities/sororities at your school?

BYU bans fraternities and sororities.