“So do you say Arizona State University or do you just say ‘HPVU’?” This is what Ted, the degenerate talking teddy bear, asks his lawyer the moment she mentions she went to ASU in Ted 2. He and his friend John Bennett then proceed to make fun of her with more jokes aimed at the party life and promiscuous nature of ASU. Why did they both know to immediately make these jokes, and why do we as viewers immediately get them?
There are dozens of large state schools across the country known for their party lifestyle, but ASU is undeniably the poster child for college promiscuity. If 100 college-aged men were asked where they would least like their girlfriends to go to school, I predict at least 50% would say ASU.
We're going to find out how ASU got this reputation, why it's stuck and how accurate it is, using two steps. The first step is to use a combination of data and standard logic, and the second is to interview college content influencer and ASU expert, Marco Gracci.
ASU has a total undergraduate population of 158,000 and a 90% acceptance rate. The university also has 35 fraternities, 30 sororities and a Greek Life population of 6,247.
These are massive numbers, which tells us that basically anybody can go to this school, and anybody does. A student who wants to attend university to drink, party and potentially engage in short-term romantic relations can definitely get into ASU, and likely achieve their goals as well. If they want to be involved in Greek Life to boost their partying potential, there are clearly enough options. The warm weather in Arizona is a perfect addition to this storm. Better moods, constant outdoor events and beach clothes all contribute to the ASU mystique. It seems preferable to have your long-distance partner wearing a puffer jacket at a Collegetown houseparty in Ithaca than to be wearing a bathing suit at the third outdoor PIKE function this week. The roots of ASU’s reputation aren’t hard to identify.
The people at ASU are known for their attractiveness as well. This February, known looksmaxxer and mogger Clavicular was brutally and easily frame-mogged by an ASU frat leader. Even for people who think the whole mogging affair is nonsense, it’s undeniable that the ASU frat leader was pretty buff. I’ll leave it to the readers to do their own research on Instagram if they want to know what an ASU sorority girl looks like.
ASU appears to have more promiscuity than the average university: hot people, warm weather and a lax admissions process guarantee this. How much more promiscuity exists, how can we confirm that it’s all true and why do people have such an infatuation with it? That’s where Marco Gracci comes in.
Gracci is a social media influencer and streamer who makes content about university students. Most of his videos are skits about college life, and some involve visits to schools to meet the students there. Recently, his most liked videos have been from a series of sketches where he plays a long-distance boyfriend whose girlfriend is joining a sorority at ASU and wants to become more involved with the football team. So, I interviewed him on his thoughts.
“There are real life scenarios that people have heard of, people have seen, people have experienced. … I definitely do think it’s close to reality, not in every situation, but in some situations,” Gracci explained. That was his take on whether his content reflects reality or is a gross exaggeration. I think he’s right. People definitely party hard at ASU — I would too if I was at a huge state school in the desert. But the more extreme situations, like where a guy’s girlfriend goes to ASU and incessantly cheats on him with frat brothers, are greatly exaggerated.
I asked Gracci what he would do if he had a girlfriend who joined an ASU sorority: “That part of it is satire. I would not break up with a girl just because she said she’s going to ASU and joining a sorority.” Gracci gave an incredibly reasonable response, and one from someone who’s probably in the right headspace. But people are still incredibly captivated by this situation, to the point where I don’t think it's just about the humor or the entertainment of watching the skit. The content wouldn’t be so repeatable if it was.
“They can all comment like this is somebody’s life. They can make a joke about it. They’re all on one side against me, essentially, in terms of that they’re aware of the situation going on where I’m completely clueless to it. So I think that really drives engagement,” Gracci added. ASU content is a way for people to feel better about themselves. Someone else is clueless, in a terrible situation where their girlfriend is cheating on them and they can’t see it, but the viewer can; it is a dramatic irony for the audience. The viewer can feel better about themselves because they can avoid such an obvious pitfall. Nobody wants to be the wimpy long-distance boyfriend, even if that really isn’t a possibility. People have mundane lives, and believing a place like ASU exists where relentless drinking, sexual intercourse and adultery take place adds excitement.
This isn’t a bad thing; it's just the nature of the role ASU plays in our culture. The jokes and reputation of the university make people laugh, feel superior and give them a sense of control in their lives.
And, for the finale, one last quote from Gracci: “But there is a little bit of reality, or else it wouldn’t be funny, you know?”
Yianni Metis is a member of the Class of 2028 in the Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management. He is a staff writer for the Lifestyle department and can be reached at ymetis@cornellsun.com.
