Lightweight Crew Initiation, Informant 2

Title: Lightweight Crew Initiation

General Information about Item:

Informant Data

Kyle Ziemer is a lightweight rower in the Dartmouth class of 2021. He hails from rural Minnesota, and is studying economics and computer science at Dartmouth. Besides rowing, Kyle is involved with his fraternity on campus as well as some student activist organizations.

Contextual Data

Cultural Context: Most of these rowers lead lives that are both academically and athletically intensive, with rigorous classes and practice most days of the week. Although Kyle is from the midwest, he estimates that 80% of his team is from the east coast.
Social Context: I collected information on this ritual from Kyle in the library, however this ritual is performed typically by sophomore rowers at Dartmouth College, who are around ages 19-20. The initiation as a “varsity” rower, through finding varsity jackets, begins at the Dartmouth crew boat house and then moves to the Dartmouth cemetery temporarily before returning to the boathouse. The rite is performed by the whole sophomore class of rowers, which is typically around 5-8 rowers (in Kyle’s case he was with five others). The ritual is usually performed after practice mid Fall, before the annual Head of the Charles race.

Item

After going through a separate initiation process to join the crew team as a freshman, Kyle underwent this process to become an official varsity rower as a sophomore. After a practice this fall, his sophomore teammates and him all went to search for their varsity jackets in the Dartmouth cemetery. After finding them, they return to the following practice wearing them, symbolizing their transition to being varsity rowers.
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Analysis

This ritual follows the three stages of all initiation rituals: separation, transition and incorporation. The separation stage occurs when the sophomores rowers leave the rest of the team after practice to go search for their jackets in the graveyard, which have been hidden by senior rowers. Once the sophomores travel to the graveyard they have begun their transition stage, in which they are in a liminal space (the graveyard) completing the challenging task of locating their jackets. They are incorporated when they return to the team with their varsity jackets the next practice.

Meaning and Interpretation

Sophomore rowers gain a strong sense pride by being initiated as varsity rowers through receiving these jackets. It distinguishes them from freshmen as experienced oarsman who have already dedicated a year of hard work to the team, and are now beginning to take on more senior roles.

Comparison

Comparison within the subgroup: In this sub-group of Dartmouth sports teams, this ritual is somewhat unique in that it is focused on sophomores rather than freshman. Most rites we have examined involve the initiation of freshmen onto their team, however the focus here is on someone becoming a more distinguished varsity member.

Comparison with the rest of the subgroups: The subgroups differ dramatically across the board. Some of the subgroups focus on various ethnic groups while others focus on groups within Dartmouth. The initiation rituals of the groups within Dartmouth usually have the purpose of welcoming new members into their community and are symbolic. Ethnic-based group rituals have the purpose of testing the new members. Additionally, ethnic groups’ initiation rituals tend to be related to religious practices. Initiation rituals of Dartmouth groups are not religious in character. What all groups have in common though is the fact that the process of initiation creates closeness with the rest of the group and makes one feel completely immersed into the group. Like almost all initiation rituals, this one does conform to the three stages of separation, transition and incorporation.

Collector: Elliot Adams, Dartmouth College, Russian 13, Professor Valentina Apresyan, Professor Mikhail Gronas, Fall 2018

Dartmouth Folklore Archive