Initiation Ritual

Chris Duan
Dartmouth College
October 4th, 2018

Informant Data:

Chris Duan is a member of the class of 2021 here at Dartmouth and is a member of the Men’s Lightweight Rowing team. He is from California. He has been rowing all his life and wanted to row at Dartmouth since he was in middle school.

Contextual Data:

Social Context: This initiation ritual is performed by new members of the Dartmouth Lightweight Rowing team. It is administered by the coach of the team and occurs roughly three weeks into the fall. It is performed in the late evening and continues into the night.

Cultural Context: In rowing, the boats have a piece of equipment called an oarlock attached to boat that holds the oars in place. It allows the oars to be moved around for rowing but keeps them in the same spot along the boat and prevents them from falling into the water. They act as a pivot point for rowing strokes. Gile is a hike close to campus that is short and easy. The elevation gain is not very large and can be completed in under an hour. It is a popular hike due to its low level of difficulty and length.

Item:

Roughly three weeks into the fall of the freshmen’s first season, the coach ends practice early for the freshmen. He then tells them that he has hidden an oarlock at the top of the Gile hike and that they must go retrieve it. The freshmen then drive to Gile and hike up to the top and find the oarlock and bring it back to the coach

Video Interview: lightwt rowing-2dro7wp

Analysis:

In this ritual, the freshmen are separated from the rest of the team at practice by the coach letting them out early. The transition is in their hike up Gile to find the oarlock and then when they return they are incorporated with the rest of the team back at practice. It involves a physical activity and facilitates getting to know the members of the class.

Comparison:

This ritual requires a form of physical activity which is seen in several other rituals we observed like the Rugby team and the Men’s swim team. It also involves getting to know your class by completing a task together such as with the Men’s swim team’s ritual of swimming all events in a meet or on the Men’s water polo team when the freshmen must arrive to campus earlier than  other members of the team.

Elliot Adams; 22 years old
Hanover, NH
Dartmouth College
Russian 13 Fall