DU has received plentiful honors in the past for its academics and athletics, but never one quite like this. On Oct. 16, thedailybeast.com ranked DU as the 16th sexiest college in the nation. This is the first time these sexy rankings have ever been conducted, and the virgin honor has created quite the buzz on campus.
The ranking takes into account three evenly weighted factors: The school’s Trojan sexual health ranking, the attractiveness of the guys and the attractiveness of the girls. The Trojan rankings are based off how sufficient the college’s health center is. Included factors for these rankings are accessibility, STI and HIV testing, condom availability and various other elements, according to their website. Trojan’s research is conducted by Sperling’s Best Places, an organization that examines data about people and places, and grades them for publications. DU has made significant improvements in these Trojan rankings, moving from 74th to 17th since 2010.
The girl and guy’s ratings are based off information from collegeprowler.com, a website that evaluates the various academic and social aspects of colleges. Research is mainly influenced by student voting, ratio of males to females and the school’s social scene. According to the website, college prospects and current students use the site to learn about dining, housing, strictness, nightlife, classes and lots more.
The research is influenced by student’s online ratings of attractiveness. DU guys scored an 8.91/10, while the girls scored an 8.80/10. In comparison to the number one ranked school, University of Wisconsin, and number two, Miami University, DU’s scores were low; however, they are the smallest school to make the list.
Despite the honors, the students don’t seem to be in full agreement with the The Daily Beast. Although many recognize DU as sexy, many also said they don’t see how the school made it to number 16.
Junior Lauren Poore, a communications major from Bethesda, Md., didn’t anticipate DU to rank this high among so many colleges.
“I was surprised to see DU at the top of the list for most attractive schools,” said Poore. “But I think that it’s pretty impressive how our small student body has made it on a nationwide list.”
Other students found it hard to believe DU made it onto a list of mainly big schools including University of Colorado Boulder and University of Georgia.
“I do think that Denver has many attractive women. But I’m still surprised to learn that it’s ranked 16th in the whole nation,” said junior Mansfield Middleton, a finance major from Greenland, N.H.
Sophomore Kate Rogers, a business major from Laguna Beach, Calif. acknowledged that DU is a sexy campus, but she was also skeptical about being number 16.
“We have a surprising amount of good-looking students considering how small DU is,” said Rogers, “But I wouldn’t rank it as one of the top schools in the nation.”
Sophomore Danny Lockhart, an undeclared major from the Bahamas, thinks the ranking has a lot to do with how students present themselves.
“A lot of people are about appearance here. The way people dress and carry themselves, I think, had to do a lot with that ranking.” said Lockhart who discussed how undefined the term “sexy” really is.
DU may be sexy according to those who voted, but few even knew about the ranking.
“It is hard to say what the sexiest school is because people have different opinions on what sexy is,” said Lockhart.
There is no real definition of attractive or sexy, so the validity of DU’s high marks depends on individual opinion.
Senior, Hayley Best, a communications major from South Salem, N.Y. presented a similar opinion to Lockhart about the influence of student’s appearances.
“I think that students on campus put a great deal of effort into how they’re dressed, but I don’t know if that’s enough to really differentiate us from all the other schools across the country,” said Best.
Despite the uncertainty from students on campus, the numbers go to show that DU makes the rank amongst sexy schools in the United States.
While the ranking may be subjective, there is no shame in admiring yourself in the reflective glass windows of Driscoll Bridge. Don’t worry, everyone else is doing it too.
