Title: Flashing Lights; How to not get your greek house shut down
Genre: Customary Folklore
Informant info: Daniel C. Reitsch, from Rockford, IL, VP at Chi Heorot Fraternity and Dartmouth class of 2016 President
Type of lore: Customary
Language: English
Country of Origin: U.S.A
Social / Cultural Context: Greek Houses tend to be lenient in regards to serving minors alcohol; therefore, they can find themselves in trouble if campus security discovers that they are doing such an act. Accordingly, campus security performs “walkthroughs” in which they knock on the fraternity door and then do a walkthrough to make sure that all college rules are being followed. Greek houses have rituals that they perform in order to make sure they pass walkthroughs.
Transcript: At some greek houses, when someone believes that S & S is at their door, they flicker the lights in the building in order to warn the other members of the house that S & S is at the door and is about to perform a walkthrough.
Collector’s comments: This is a ritual I myself have witnessed on many a night out at Dartmouth. It is at the point of common knowledge that when the lights flash S&S is about to come into the basement.
Collected by Robert Moffitt, Class of 2016.