BYU is most sober school for the 11th year in a row

PROVO — An NFL team that wins the Super Bowl for a fifth time is said to have so many championship rings that it has won "one for the thumb."

When it comes to being ranked the nation's most "Stone-Cold Sober" school, Brigham Young University has plumb run out of fingers and thumbs.

The 2009 edition of the Princeton Review's "Best 368 Colleges" goes on sale today and has BYU on top of its list of stone-cold sober schools for the 11th year in a row.

So, BYU, how 'bout one for the pinkie toe?

Called the "academic epicenter of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints" by the Princeton Review, the university's annual recognition for abstemiousness regularly sparks derision from some drinkers who look down their long-neck beer bottles at the dry campus. But the stone-cold sober label is considered an honor by nearly everyone involved with the university, from students to faculty to members of the board of trustees.

Last year the chairman of the board, late LDS Church President Gordon B. Hinckley, again praised students for the Princeton Review ranking, calling it proof they live up to the school's Honor Code, which proscribes smoking, drinking and extramarital sex.

BYU has so dominated the category that it has entered the consciousness of pop culture. In 2006, BYU's long run of notable sobriety was the answer to a question on the hit television game show "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?"

University spokesman Michael Smart toasted Monday's news.

"We continue to be proud to defend our title as the nation's most stone-cold sober university," Smart said. "It's become a source of pride and a fun item for students who choose BYU for the unique environment they want to enjoy."

The Princeton Review rankings are based on a survey of 120,000 students around the country. The sober category is based on answers students provide about the use of alcohol and drugs at their school, the number of hours they study each day outside of class and the popularity of fraternities and sororities.

BYU abolished fraternities and sororities in 1924 and social clubs in 1962.

Nationally, the rankings get more publicity for the opposite end of the drinking spectrum. The Associated Press story on the release of "Best 368 Colleges" led with the University of Florida being named the No. 1 party school this year, a first after 15 years in the top 20.