PETA2, the college outreach arm of PETA, announced earlier this week that American University won its “most vegetarian-friendly college” contest, defeating 32 other nominees for the dubious honor. Why do I say dubious? Because the competition seems to be nothing more than a popularity contest, rather than one based on an objective review of the vegetarian dining options at AU and other universities.

From the press release announcing the victory:

AU competed against 32 other universities across the nation. Through an online bracket much like that associated with the NCAA basketball tournament, people voted for their favorite schools and tracked the schools’ progress.

AU defeated every other university, including cross town and regional rivals Georgetown University and the University of Richmond. In the final round, AU topped Wesleyan University.

So congrats, AU, on having a student body motivated enough to win an online popularity poll.