A university party is very different from a school party and also very different from a party with people in another age group. This is not just because of a generation gap and familiarity but core to growing up.
One of the best things that happen when we get older is we really start to undersand what it means to do whatever you want. You don’t necessarily become wiser as the saying goes, but after a long life you will realise that your own needs are more important than fitting in. Some people try really hard to conform regardless, which can form a sort of unhappiness brewing over time.
In a party setting what then happens is that you cannot control how people are going to interact or what events they are going to do anymore. The most you can control is a welcome speech to get everyone to listen. Beyond that people are generally going to stick to their comfort zone or what they have made their minds up to do before attending.
This means it is actually very easy to organise networking events. All you have to do is set a venue and make sure nobody comes expecting food that you don’t provide, everything else is auto pilot. That’s why networking tends to always just a part of the agenda, not the main. It is a simple add on that doesn’t require much planning at all.