In an official decree from the WashU administration designed to adopt a more lenient stance on judging students' partying abilities, students are now allowed to drop their lowest WILD. Previously, students who were not able to make it to the biannual concert due to excessive drinking were ridiculed for their failure, and perhaps adorned with drawings of penises on their faces. This policy was deemed too harsh however, and officials are hoping the new one will encourage students to binge drink without fear of reprimand or social ostracism.

"You really have be some sort of drinking god to hit the perfect level of drunken oblivion for eight WILD's in a row," said Joseph Stark, the dean responsible for adjusting the Washington University Behavioral Code of Conduct. "We certainly wouldn't want students to try to make it every time by reducing their alcohol consumption, so this gives them a bit of leeway while encouraging them to keep going hard."

The policy change has been in the works ever since January, when in a devastating blow to WashU's social reputation, the university was given a failing grade for "night life" in the "CollegeProwler" report card. Although technically the grade was a "B", everyone at WashU considers the two synonymous.

"Look, academic rigor and research are all fine and great, blah blah blah, but let's get real here," said Stark. "Prospective students have certain things they're looking for. Specifically, the frequency with which the average student gets super schwasty and makes bad decisions. That is, after all, the true hallmark of American Universities." WashU, famously known as, "that one other school that they might have based Animal House off but it was probably just Dartmouth," indeed has a long-standing reputation of interfraternal irresponsibility and debauchery to uphold.

"We're just concerned that the average student might be so focused on getting that perfect 4.0 GPA that they lose sight of shooting for the 4.0 BAC," Stark continued, "I mean, only 4% of our students even reported drinking more than three nights a week in a recent survey. Come on now people, that's just bordering on embarrassing."

The new policy emphasizes that students must have a valid excuse approved by the Judicial Board in order to receive the official pardon, so as to make sure the policy is encouraging partying. Valid excuses include being "on fire" at the Beirut table, not wanting to let friends take shots by themselves, and any injuries inflicted after yelling 'Bro! Wait, bro! I just got the best idea. Check this out!'"

In an inspiring address to the undergraduate student body, Chancellor Wrighton concluded with a simple message: "Guys. It's WILD. Let loose! Have fun. And most importantly: post pictures of you and your, preferably most attractive and if applicable, most ethnic friends, having fun on Facebook so prospective students will want to come here."

With acceptance letters now out, visits to campus by prospective freshmen are in full swing. However, the polo-wearing, parent-entangled youngsters have, to date, been hard to spot around campus given only WashU-emblazoned folders to distinguish them. In attempts to ease the identification of these non-students and better facilitate ridicule at their expense, the admissions department plans to issue neon green shirts for the high schoolers to wear. The shirts will be mandatory.

"I think this is a great move by the administration," says sophomore Kyle Osling, a student who goes to this school. "The other day I saw one and was only 98% sure it was a pre-frosh, so the new shirts will allow me to heckle with renewed confidence."

While the new shirts are still being workshopped, ideas for printing on the bright garments include: "LOOK HOW OUT OF PLACE I AM", "Ask me about my thousand-yard stare", and simply covering the shirts in pictures of sad, lost puppies.

Dean of Undergraduate Admissions Jean Milowski was particularly adamant about the necessity of the conspicuous duds point out that it can be difficult to tell the difference between a pre-frosh slowly stumbling around campus while getting lectured by their parents and just a regular, burnt-out pre-med.

"There are a lot of lamoids at this school and it's important that they're verbally abused contingent upon their actual dweebiness and not the dweebiness of one of their equally lame cohorts," she said. She also mentioned the possibility incorporating "those little flashy things troupes of Halloween children wear."

Beta testing of interaction between WashU students and the now easier-to-recognize visitors revealed a sharp gender difference in the youngsters' reception. While prospective male students enjoyed such pejorative epithets as "fart-muncher" and "fart-gobbler", female pre-frosh not only received directions around campus from current male students, but also directions to said males' dorms for "private tours." Lauding the hospitality and thoughtfulness of the male students, the Office of Undergraduate Admissions deemed the testing successful.

As of press time, the university is looking into creating different-colored shirts for prospective freshmen with boyfriends back home.