Just a couple of weeks after Syracuse University was named the No. 1 party school in America, large celebrations at one of the school's most popular spots -- a parking lot known colloquially as Castle Court -- have been prohibited.
But students at the Syracuse, New York, school aren't taking the ban sitting down.
A group made a video calling for the preservation of Castle Court -- a place, at least once student says, where Syracuse students from all walks of campus life can unite, rather than being divided by fraternity and sorority affiliations or other social barriers.
The video is featured on popular YouTube channel I'm Shmacked and has been viewed more than 34,000 times.
According to the Daily Orange, Syracuse first reached out to Campus Hill (the off-campus apartment complex surrounding Castle Court) management in 2013 concerning issues with parties in the space. The university’s complaint included the following safety concerns: students hanging off balconies, disrupting traffic and setting fires in the parking lot, as well as large crowds, excessive alcohol consumption, and glass and debris in the parking lot.
Management agreed with Syracuse's complaints and found it appropriate to end the large parking lot parties at Castle Court.
However, in the clip above, one student argues there was no safety-related reason to prohibit large parties there.
"It was fun and it was safe," he says. "You never saw anybody getting hurt, and we were respectful enough to clean up after ourselves."
The Huffington Post reached out to Syracuse following the release of the video. A representative responded by citing student safety concerns and proclaiming that the intention was not to curtail the school's vibrant social life.
"Very large gatherings [at Castle Court] have posed significant risk to the health and safety of students who attend and participate," the rep wrote in an email to HuffPost. "These changes do not mean eliminating all fun or the positive aspects of social life and school spirt represented so well at Syracuse. Rather, they mean that we take the safety and well-being of our students and the campus community seriously."