Spring Break
Beer pong trend takes universities by surprise
Issue date: 11/16/05 Section: Other Campus
Branden Kfoury
Washington Square News
(NYU)
(U-WIRE) NEW YORK - Near some of the trendiest bars and clubs in Manhattan, a crude game with unglamorous connotations is taking New York University by storm.
Just ask Chris Whitby and Jamie Kelley. The two juniors started playing beer pong, a decidedly un-NYU pasttime, their freshman year and have since taken the game to a higher level, hosting some of the biggest pong events on campus.
During their sophomore year, they began hosting tournaments with multiple tables. They would have 16 teams on average with each person paying $8 to cover basic costs. The winner received a $100 cash prize.
"No one else on campus is doing anything like this," Whitby said. "We put a lot of planning into these tournaments. It's always well-thought-out."
Drinking games such as beer pong have been growing in popularity around the country during the past few years. In various recent studies, 50 to 80 percent of college students said they played drinking games.
The rules of beer pong are simple. Two players stand on opposite sides of a table with a triangle of cups partly filled with beer. Each player tosses the ball into their opponent's cups. If a player sinks the ball, the other team must drink the beer and remove the cup from the table. The first player to sink balls into all of the other team's cups wins. While the game was born in dirty fraternity basements, the culture of beer pong is becoming commercialized, with a new industry evolving around playing the game. Bars have started holding tournaments with beer distributors sponsoring the events and providing prizes. Urban Outfitters carries a beer pong kit called Bombed as well as other sets of drinking games.
To counter this growth and diminish binge drinking, many schools have decided to ban all such activities from campus. Schools such as the University of Pennsylvania and Georgetown University have imposed bans on drinking games. However, a ban is not likely to come to NYU anytime soon, said Tom Ellet, assistant vice president of residential education.
Washington Square News
(NYU)
(U-WIRE) NEW YORK - Near some of the trendiest bars and clubs in Manhattan, a crude game with unglamorous connotations is taking New York University by storm.
Just ask Chris Whitby and Jamie Kelley. The two juniors started playing beer pong, a decidedly un-NYU pasttime, their freshman year and have since taken the game to a higher level, hosting some of the biggest pong events on campus.
During their sophomore year, they began hosting tournaments with multiple tables. They would have 16 teams on average with each person paying $8 to cover basic costs. The winner received a $100 cash prize.
"No one else on campus is doing anything like this," Whitby said. "We put a lot of planning into these tournaments. It's always well-thought-out."
Drinking games such as beer pong have been growing in popularity around the country during the past few years. In various recent studies, 50 to 80 percent of college students said they played drinking games.
The rules of beer pong are simple. Two players stand on opposite sides of a table with a triangle of cups partly filled with beer. Each player tosses the ball into their opponent's cups. If a player sinks the ball, the other team must drink the beer and remove the cup from the table. The first player to sink balls into all of the other team's cups wins. While the game was born in dirty fraternity basements, the culture of beer pong is becoming commercialized, with a new industry evolving around playing the game. Bars have started holding tournaments with beer distributors sponsoring the events and providing prizes. Urban Outfitters carries a beer pong kit called Bombed as well as other sets of drinking games.
To counter this growth and diminish binge drinking, many schools have decided to ban all such activities from campus. Schools such as the University of Pennsylvania and Georgetown University have imposed bans on drinking games. However, a ban is not likely to come to NYU anytime soon, said Tom Ellet, assistant vice president of residential education.