Title: Rush Alternative Social Spaces Meme
General Information about Item:
- Verbal and Material: Joke
- English
- USA
Informant Data:
- Jeffrey Qiao is a student in the class of 2020 at Dartmouth College. He is originally from Irvine, California but attended boarding school in the North East during his high school years. Jeffrey is a math major, and he began making memes during his freshman year in college.
Contextual Data:
- Social Context:
- This meme was collected during a one on one interview in Baker Berry Library at Dartmouth College. Jeffrey described how he made the meme using photoshop as well as well as how this meme has been spread throughout the Dartmouth student body by way of the meme page, text messages, and email. Because this meme is very specific to Dartmouth, it is primarily enjoyed and spread by people within the Dartmouth community.
- Cultural Context:
- The cultural context of this meme reflects on the Moving Dartmouth Forward initiative that was implemented by President Hanlon in 2015. Part of the initiative was to build alternative social spaces for students, and many feel that this was just a veiled attempt to lessen involvement in Greek life on Dartmouth’s campus. The alternative social spaces idea has been largely unsuccessful up to this point, and Dartmouth’s social life remains centered around fraternities and sororities. So, this meme pokes fun at the alternative social spaces by suggesting that students can “rush” them, similarly to how a student might rush either a fraternity or sorority.
Item:
Informant’s Comments:
- Jeffrey noted that he made this during rush week for Greek life houses, which is what gave him the idea. He also said that he figured since most students already view alternative social spaces as somewhat of a joke, he might as well make another joke out of it. The meme is meant to show students disregard for alternative social spaces.
Collector’s Comments:
- I am a big proponent of this meme, as I find it rather edgy and hilarious. Moreover, every student on Dartmouth’s campus, whether they are affiliated with Greek life or not, can relate to this meme.
Collector’s Name: Bryce Killian
Tags/Keywords: Dartmouth. Meme. Hanlon. Hard Alcohol. Alternative Social Spaces.