LSU students frequently spend weekends drinking at places like Tigerland and football tailgates, contributing to the university having a notorious party school reputation.

In a Niche.com poll about LSU’s party scene, LSU received an A+ grade out of 220 responses, with 23% of students saying there are “tons of raging parties almost any night of the week” and 48% reporting there being “lots of options Wednesday to Saturday.”

While many students actively engage with LSU’s party culture, others are navigating college without drinking.

Sociology junior Kayla Byrd, 22, said she grew up with family members who drank and wasn’t fond of the environment. Now, she chooses to not indulge in the habit.

“I never felt comfortable with [drinking] and I didn’t like the way people behave when they’re drunk, and I don’t like the idea that I wouldn’t be in control of myself,” Byrd said.

Byrd said she spends time with people who also don’t drink, so she’s never experienced any social pressure to consume alcohol.

“Oddly enough, I have felt pressure from certain family members, but not my friends,” she said.

Byrd said she doesn’t do many activities that are associated with drinking. Instead of going out to drink on weekends, her and her friends do other things, like watch movies together. 

“Overall, I don’t feel like there is any overwhelming pressure to drink while you’re at LSU…Maybe if you were more involved with that, you’d feel more pressured…but personally, I think I’ve done well not drinking and not being in situations that have pressured me,” she said.

According to an article from the Alcohol Rehab Guide, 80% of college students consume alcohol at some point, and around 50% of those students participate in binge drinking, “which involves consuming too much alcohol in too little time.”

The guide noted binge drinking as being most high-risk among freshmen during their first month at college. 

“Alcohol use is commonly viewed as the ‘college experience’ that students desire,” the article said, which can lead to many freshmen feeling social pressure to drink.

Mechanical engineering sophomore Noah Jeffers, 22, believes going out and drinking is a big part of the culture at LSU, especially for freshmen.

“With your first couple years, you’re free and don’t have parents, [so it’s common] to go drink, try new things, party, so I would say that I think it’s a pretty active part of the college environment of LSU,” he said.

Like Byrd, Jeffers tries to not put himself in a scenario where everyone around him is drinking, and that his friends aren’t a big “party group.”

Jeffers has various reasons he chooses not to drink, and while he considers himself a Christian, he said his religious beliefs don’t play as much of a factor in his decision. After trying a few drinks in the past, he found he wasn’t fond of the activity.

Jeffers has experienced a few negative reactions towards him not drinking, but he said he doesn’t let it affect him.

“I’ve had a few people that just kind of treat me as if I was, I don’t know, kind of weird or like a loser of some sorts. But really, for me, I wasn’t ever really worried about it. I was like, ‘ok man, well, if you feel like the only way I can hang out with [you] is to drink, then I will be honest, I just don’t really want to hang out with you,’” Jeffers said.

Jeffers emphasized the importance of not leaving someone out of plans because they don’t drink.

“Just because somebody doesn’t want a drink, don’t necessarily exclude them from like parties and stuff…I know a lot of friends of mine that aren’t really active drinkers, and they just don’t get invited to hang out with people that like to drink, because they feel like they’re going to judge them or something,” Jeffers said. “We just want to chill and have a fun time with our friends.”

Public relations junior Jonathan LeBrun, 21, has never been very interested in drinking, citing health issues as being one of the factors for his decision.

“I’ve seen research where, you know, people who drink typically have, like, liver issues or pancreas issues. So you know, [it’s] avoidance of that,” LeBrun said.

While LeBrun believes going to bars and drinking might have been more prevalent among older generations, he believes college students today are more open to alternate hang-out spots.

“If you wanted to meet people say 20, 30 years back, you had to go to a bar on a Saturday night…[Now] there’s a lot of other social outlets besides just simply going to a bar and getting drunk,” he said.

LeBrun said he doesn’t believe people can truly get to know someone by drinking with them, and instead it’s better to meet in a neutral environment that allows for conversation where they’re “truly themselves.” Other options LeBrun has found for socializing include hanging out at coffee shops and joining clubs. 

LeBrun said he tries to avoid parties where people are drinking and hasn’t felt any pressure to drink while at LSU but noted that not being in a fraternity may have provided him more autonomy to decide if he should drink.

While drinking can be common among other students, LeBrun said it all depends on who you surround yourself with.

“You can search out people who don’t drink just as easily as you can search out people who do. It’s just the kind of people you’d like to hang out with,” LeBrun said.

LeBrun doesn’t mind when other people drink, but he believes it becomes a problem when students drink too much and start to bother those around them.

“I’ve gone to [football] games where like, you know, people have thrown cans of beer just out of nowhere in the student section and stuff like that, and I would say that annoys me but if people just…drink and they keep to themselves, then they’re no bother to me,” Lebrun said. “It’s mutually respecting what other people choose to do with their lives.”