Monthly Archives: June 2016

Release Forms

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The Folklore Collection Project

Russian 13: Vampires, Witches, and Firebirds: Introduction to Slavic Folklore

Russian Department

Dartmouth College | Hanover, NH

 

 

About the Project

 

The purpose of the Folklore Collection Project (hereinafter “the Project”) at Dartmouth College is to collect and record contemporary folklore both on Dartmouth campus and in the Upper Valley community.

 

Legal Disclosure

 

All participants should understand the following before sharing their stories with the Project:

 

  1. By participating in a folklore collection interview with the Project, participants agree to donate all forms of the interview to Dartmouth College.
  2. Dartmouth College retains the right to make all forms of the interview publicly available for research.
  3. Employees and student interviewers associated with the Project are happy to answer questions, but cannot offer any legal advice. If you are concerned about issues of a legal nature, you may wish to consult an attorney.

 

Interview Agreement

 

I agree to participate in the Project by providing an interview for a folklore collection. I understand that my interview may be audio- and video-recorded, and that a text transcript of that recording may be produced. I grant Dartmouth College the right to retain all forms of my interview and make these publicly available for research. I acknowledge that as part of this availability, my interview will be published on the Internet.

 

I transfer all copyrights, titles, and interests associated with my interview to Dartmouth College. I release the College from any legal claims arising from the content of my interview, including but not limited to defamation, invasion of privacy, or right of publicity.

 

Should the collecting policies of the College evolve in such a way that my interview no longer fits within the parameters of the collections, I understand that the College may dispose of my interview in accordance with disposition policies. I acknowledge that Dartmouth College will provide me with an access to the final copy of my interview upon its completion.

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Lou’s Challenge

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Lou’s Challenge

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When attempting to complete the Lou’s Challenge, a participant must stay up all night, either from partying or studying, and stay awake long enough to make it to Lou’s Restaurant at its 6 a.m. opening time for a delicious breakfast.

Folklore Type: Customary

Lou’s Challenge Stories

May 31, 2016

Anonymous Female 16’
Age: 22
Birthplace:  San Diego, CA
Current Residence: Hanover, NH
Place Collected: Dartmouth College
Date Collected: April 22, 2016
Genre: Verbal-Story
Language: English
Country of Origin: USA

Social/Cultural Context: Entertainment

Informant’s Comments: 

“Me and three of my friends were in the library midterms week. We were forced to pull an all nighter to get our work done on time. We decided to reward themselves with the Lou’s challenge in the morning for all of our hard work.”

Anonymous Male 19’

Age: 19
Birthplace:  Flemington, New Jersey
Current Residence: Hanover, NH
Place Collected: Dartmouth College
Date Collected: April 22, 2016
Genre: Verbal-Story
Language: English

Country of Origin: USA

Social / Cultural Context: Entertainment

Informant’s Comments:

“I did the Lou’s’ Challenge during orientation week with people I had just met that night. I wanted to start my experience at Dartmouth off on the right foot. Some of the people I did the challenge with became my best friends here at Dartmouth.”

Anonymous Male 16’
Age: 22

Birthplace:  Chicago, IL

Current Residence: Hanover, NH
Place Collected: Dartmouth College
Date Collected: April 22, 2016
Genre: Verbal-Story
Language: English
Country of Origin: USA

Social / Cultural Context: Entertainment

Informant’s Comments:

“I am a brother in a house on campus that would like to remain anonymous. Me and my fellow brothers started at 9pm and stayed up all night playing pong, did the Lou’s challenge, and then went back to playing pong before we all fell asleep. “

Anonymous Female 19’

Age: 18
Birthplace: Doylestown, PA
Current Residence: Hanover, NH
Place Collected: Dartmouth College
Date Collected: April 20, 2016
Genre: Verbal-Story
Language:English
Country of Origin:USA
Social / Cultural Context: Entertainment

Informant’s Comments: 

“My teammates and I had just gotten back from a three day Ivy Championships at midnight. We stayed up the entire night celebrating our victories and ended the celebrating at Lou’s at 6am. I was so delirious and tired that I accidently gave a $40 tip instead of an $8 tip.” 

Anonymous Male 17’

Age:21
Birthplace: San Diego, CA
Current Residence: Hanover,NH
Date Collected: May 3, 2016
Genre: Verbal-Story
Language: English
Country of Origin:USA
Social / Cultural Context: Entertainment

Informant’s Comments:

“When I was a freshman, I knew of a senior who completed Lou’s Challenge three days in a row during Green Key. The senior claims he didn’t sleep all weekend, and slept for the following next three days.”

Anonymous Male 19′

Age:20
Birthplace: Washington, DC
Current Residence: Hanover, NH
Date Collected: April 23rd, 2016
Genre: Verbal-Story
Language: English
Country of Origin: USA
Social / Cultural Context: Entertainment

Informant’s Comments:

“I had three papers due on a Monday during the Winter Term. Going into the weekend I had one of my three papers done. I ended up not sleeping at all Saturday night, so I decided to do Lou’s Challenge that following morning. Fortunately for me, I was able to complete Lou’s Challenge and his papers. The sad part is that I did the challenge alone.”

Collector’s Comments: 

As present within all these stories, the members who attempted and completed the Lou’s Challenge mentioned above, each did it with the purpose to claim they completed Lou’s Challenge at least one, probably of the many nights, Dartmouth students pulled an “all-nighter”. The motivation and purpose for each individual’s decision to complete Lou’s Challenge was so they could carry on Dartmouth tradition and culture that has been around for decades at Dartmouth. By completing Lou’s Challenge, each person feels a closer sense of community that is immersed throughout this campus. The Lou’s Challenge allows a unique perspective for Dartmouth students to create bonds with other Dartmouth students that ties them into the folk group of Lou’s Challenge students because they share a common experience of pulling an “all-nighter” and by finishing off their night with a Lou’s breakfast.

The Ledyard Bridge Challenge

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Ledyard Bridge Challenge

LB

When participating in the Ledyard Bridge Challenge, a person or, more commonly, a group must go down to the bank of the Connecticut River, remove their clothing, and swim across to the Vermont side of the river bank. Once this is done, the participant or group of participants must run back across Ledyard Bridge, which connects the New Hampshire and Vermont banks of the Connecticut River, and dress themselves without being caught by the Hanover Police.

Folklore Type: Customary

Ledyard Bridge Challenge Stories 

May 30, 2016

Anonymous Male 17’
Age: 21
Birthplace: New York, NY
Current Residence: Hanover, NH
Where collected: Dartmouth College
Date Collected: April 20, 2016
Genre: Verbal-Story
Language: English
Country of Origin: USA
Social / Cultural Context: Entertainment

Informant’s Comments:

“It was my Sophomore Summer, and there was only about a week left, so a couple of my friends decided to meet up with a couple of girls and go do the Ledyard Bridge Challenge. My friends and the group of girls we were with had been at the House drinking and pre-gaming getting ready for Ledyard Bridge. After everyone was at the point of feeling loose, we all headed down to the Connecticut River. As we started to strip, the Hanover Police came. We all made a dash for the river and jumped in. My close friend and I made it across to the Vermont River bank. My other friend managed to escape from the cops with the girls. My friend and I ran across the Ledyard Bridge, grabbed our clothes, and went to the House to hide. We thought we were in the clear until the Hanover Police came knocking on our door. We had to turn ourselves into the Hanover Police because our fourth friend was missing; we mistakenly thought he got away. We went with the police to the site where we jumped in. We couldn’t find him, and the police couldn’t find him either. Fire trucks and dive teams were called in as they started searching for him in the Connecticut River. As morning approached, and the search was wrapping up we found our friend passed out in the bushes next to many cop cars. Over $10,000 was spent looking for my friend, and the whole time he was passed out in the bushes.”

Anonymous Male 15′ (Alumni)
Age: 21
Birthplace: Rye, NY
Current Residence: Hanover, NH
Where Collected: Dartmouth College
Date Collected: April 20, 2016
Genre: Verbal-Story
Language: English
Country of Origin: USA
Social / Cultural Context: Entertainment

Informant’s Comments:

“I was doing the Ledyard Challenge my freshman year. As I was running back across the bridge, HPO started chasing me. Luckily, I didn’t have my wallet with my clothes. So, I booked it all the way back to my dorm at the Choates. As soon as I got back I locked my room and turned the lights out. I was never caught.”

Anonymous Female 18′
Age: 20
Birthplace: Fort Lauderdale, FL
Current Residence: Hanover, NH
Where Collected: Dartmouth College
Date Collected: April 27, 2016
Genre: Verbal-Story
Language: English
Country of Origin: USA
Social / Cultural Context: Entertainment
Informant’s Comments:

“I heard about the challenge before I attended Dartmouth, on my recruiting visit.  All of the stories I heard made me afraid of the challenge because almost everybody got caught.  I finally built up enough confidence after two years on campus, and set off for the challenge on a warm spring night.  I mentally prepared myself, in case I got caught, but I luckily ended up completing the challenge with no sign of SNS or HPO.  I consider myself very lucky.”

Anonymous Female 19′
Age: 18
Birthplace: Hoboken, NJ
Current Residence: Hanover, NH
Where Collected: Dartmouth College
Date Collected: April 23, 2016
Genre: Verbal Story
Language: English
Country of Origin: USA
Social / Cultural Context: Entertainment

Informant’s Comments:

“I came to campus in September excited to participate in all that Dartmouth offered.  I heard of the Ledyard Bridge Challenge from an upperclassman in the first month of school.  On the same day that I was told about it, I decided to complete it.  Unfortunately, I always had poor circulation in my body, and that week happen to be very chilly.  The water was very cold when I got in and as I swam, my body tensed up.  HPO was at the scene waiting for me to return to the New Hampshire side.  At one point during my swim, I started screaming because my body got so cold, to the point where I could no longer swim.  One of the HPO officers, saw the severity of the situation and dove in to help me.  He passed me a life jacket (some HPO officers keep them for these situations) and helped me to land.  I was very embarrassed, thanked the officer and apologized.  The officer let me off with a warning and took me to Dick’s House for the night.”

Anonymous Male 16′
Age: 22
Birthplace: Westport, CT
Current Residence: Hanover, NH
Where Collected: Dartmouth College
Date Collected: April 27, 2016
Genre: Verbal-StoryLanguage: English
Country of Origin: USA
Social / Cultural Context: Entertainment
Informant’s Comments:

“I did the Ledyard Challenge with my girlfriend at the time.  It was in the spring of my Junior year.  We made it across the river, and as we were running back, HPO showed up.  One officer got out of the car and started chasing us.  We reached our clothes, grabbed them, and continued running.  The officer caught my girlfriend, but I continued running and did not get caught.  My girl was already upset at me due to a past instance and this put her over the edge.  She broke up with me the next morning.”

Anonymous Female 17′
Age: 20
Birthplace: Dallas, TX
Current Residence: Dartmouth
Date Collected: May 4, 2016
Genre: Verbal-Story
Language: English
Country of Origin: USA
Social / Cultural Context: Entertainment

Informant’s Comments:

“My sorority sisters and I decided to do the Ledyard Bridge. We stripped and jumped in. We made it to the other side without being caught. We ran across the bridge unnoticed again. When we got to the area where our clothes were supposed to be, we couldn’t find them. We spent half an hour looking for them. We then had to call for another one of our sister’s to pick us up. It turns out that our clothes were taking by one of my friend’s boyfriend and his friends. It was not at all funny because we could have been caught.”

Collector’s Comments

The members who attempted and completed the Dartmouth Seven mentioned above, each did it with the purpose to claim they completed the Ledyard Bridge Challenge. Collectively, the Ledyard Bridge Challenge is the most terrifying challenge on campus. Dartmouth Students’ motivation and purpose, as well as for each individual’s reason, to complete the Ledyard Bridge Challenge are so they could carry on Dartmouth tradition and culture that has been around for decades at Dartmouth. By completing the Ledyard Bridge Challenge, each person feels a closer sense of community that is immersed throughout this campus. The Ledyard Bridge Challenge allows a unique perspective for Dartmouth students to create bonds with other Dartmouth students that ties them into the folk group of Dartmouth Seven students, whether that be they successfully completed Ledyard Bridge, or if Hanover Police ended their attempts.

The Dartmouth Seven

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The Dartmouth Seven

When participating in the Dartmouth Seven challenge, a person must have intercourse in the following seven locations around the campus of Dartmouth College:

  1. The Green7
  2. Dartmouth Hall
  3. Hanlon’s Lawn
  4. BEMA
  5. Football 50 Yard Line
  6. Top of the Hop
  7. The Stacks

(all photos of the locations are shown; excluding the hop)

This challenge must be completed before the participant graduates.

Folklore Type: Customary

Anonymous Male 19′
Age: 20
Birthplace: San Fransico, CA
Current Residence: Hanover, NH
Where collected: Dartmouth College 
Date Collected: April 16, 2016 
Genre: Verbal-Story
Language: English
Country of Origin: USA
Social / Cultural Context: Entertainment
Informant’s Comments:
“In the fall, I heard of the Dartmouth Seven. Over Homecoming weekend, I met up with a Dartmouth 17′ Female. That night I decided to do five of the Dartmouth Seven. I did Top of the Hop, BEMA, Stacks, Hanlon’s Front Lawn, and Dartmouth Hall. I wasn’t able to complete the locations of the Green and the 50-yard line of the Football field because the Green still had the bonfire set-up on it, and the football field was locked.” When asked about his night, he said, “It was a good time; I failed though; I should have done all Seven.”
Anonymous Female 16′
Age: 23
Birthplace: Greenwich, CT
Current Residence: Hanover, NH
Date Collected: May 15, 2016
Genre: Verbal-Story
Language: English
Country of Origin: USA
Social / Cultural Context: Entertainment
Informant’s Comments:
“So I first heard about the Dartmouth Seven during my freshman fall. During my Sophomore Summer I decided to go and do BEMA. I was with a cute guy in my class, and we were having a fun night, so I asked him if he wanted to go do BEMA with me. When we got there we found that there was a couple waiting for another couple to finish up. Essentially there was a line to do the Dartmouth Seven at BEMA.”
Anonymous Male 18′
Age: 20
Birthplace: Charleston, SC
Current Residence: Hanover, NH
Date Collected: May 1, 2016
Genre: Verbal-Story
Language: English
Country of Origin: USA
Social / Cultural Context: Entertainment
Informant’s Comments:
He gave us a story of his friend and his Dartmouth Seven experience in the Stacks: “My friend attempted to do a Seven at the Stacks. My friend and the girl he was with were almost done, when their TA caught them. Both my buddy and the girl were students attempting the Stacks were in the class that the TA taught.” He claims, “It was by far the funniest Stack story I’ve heard.”

Anonymous Female 19′

Age: 18
Birthplace: Oakton, Va
Current Residence: Hanover, NH
Date Collected: April 23rd, 2016
Genre: Verbal-Story
Language: English
Country of Origin: USA
Social / Cultural Context: Entertainment
Informant’s Comments:
“It was about a week after the frat ban had been lifted for Freshmen. I headed out to one of the more well-known fraternities at Dartmouth. I met a 17′ male at the third fraternity I went to that night. After a game of pong we played together, we then decided to go to Hanlon’s front lawn. Neither of us noticed at the time, but we proceeded to do it on top of a newly fertilized lawn. My dress was ruined, but my night was made.”

Anonymous Male 19′

Age: 19
Birthplace: Potomac, MD
Current Residence: Hanover, NH
Date Collected: April 29, 2016
Genre: Verbal-Story
Language: English
Country of Origin: USA
Social / Cultural Context: Entertainment
Informant’s Comments:

“My story goes as: I was a freshman and I met up with a 17′ female one night. We proceeded to have a good time, and I was making good moves. She then suggested to me that we go do a Seven at Dartmouth Hall. Initially, all was good and well for us; however, about 5 minutes into it, Dartmouth Hall then lit up into an array of colors. Dartmouth Hall was completely lit up, and we were completely exposed to the people nearby. I immediately pull up my pants and took off without her. Twenty minutes later I then received a text from her. She wanted to finish a Seven with me that night. So, I met up with her at BEMA, and we did the BEMA together.”

Anonymous Female 17′
Age: 21
Birthplace: Wayne, PA
Current Residence: Hanover, NH
Date Collected: May 5, 2015
Genre: Verbal-Story
Language: English
Country of Origin: USA
Social / Cultural Context: Entertainment
Informant’s Comments:

 

“It was my Junior year, and I had never done a Dartmouth Seven before. I was definitely too nervous about being caught. Eventually, I felt it was time for me to do one. The night of the blackout at Dartmouth and on the Green, I went over to my neighbor’s dorm. I asked him if he wanted to go do the Green with me. At first, he seemed rattled that I asked him to do it with me. However, I was able convinced him, and we went to go do the Green. He seemed much more nervous than I was, and it eventually made me nervous too. We kept doing it though, and now I can say I did the Green.”

Collector’s Comment:

As present within all these stories, the members who attempted and completed the Dartmouth Seven mentioned above, each did it with the purpose to claim they completed at least one of the Dartmouth Seven. The motivation and purpose for each individual’s decision to complete a Seven are so they could carry on Dartmouth tradition and culture that has been around for decades at Dartmouth. By completing a challenge, each person feels a closer sense of community that is immersed throughout this campus. The Dartmouth Seven allows a unique perspective for Dartmouth students to create bonds with other Dartmouth students that ties them into the folk group of Dartmouth Seven students.

Dartmouth Folklore & Collection Process

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Proof of Dartmouth Folklore

The Dartmouth Seven, the Ledyard Bridge Challenge, and the Lou’s Challenge are all well-known challenges among the Dartmouth “folk” (i.e. students, professors). These three challenges are the most well-known among Dartmouth Students. The origin of each is unknown, but there are rumors about where each one comes from. Most Dartmouth students hear about these challenges from either an upperclassman or a fellow classmate. Because these challenges are passed on from incoming freshman class to incoming freshman class, it is proof of its folklore; the Dartmouth Seven, the Ledyard Bridge Challenge, and Lou’s Challenge survive because they are passed down annually to new Dartmouth students.

How We Collected Our Folklore

The stories were collected from a range of Dartmouth students and Dartmouth Alumni, both male and female. Through one-on-one interviews, we were able to collect Dartmouth Challenge stories. In addition, surveys were conducted in order to get the broadest range of contributions possible.

All of the stories we collected were from people who wished to remain anonymous. In order to respect their wishes for privacy, we removed their names from our database and changed the names of people within the various folklore examples.

We decided to choose the most PG-13 related Dartmouth Challenges stories due to the graphic content some stories contain. Because we wished the stories to stay a true as possible from our informants, if a story was too graphic we left it out. We choose the best six stories for each Dartmouth Challenge to include in our collection project.

Finally, participants were asked why they partake in these challenges and what the challenges mean to them. Due to the similarity of many of the responses, we combined them all into one collective response at the bottom of each challenge page under our collector’s comment section.