Initiation Ritual

Gordon Robinson
Dartmouth College
October 17th, 2018

Informant Data:

Gordon Robinson is a member of the class of 2021 here at Dartmouth and is a member of the Men’s Rugby Team. He is from London, England. He came to Dartmouth following his older brother who is a member of the class of 2019.

Contextual Data:

Social Context: This initiation ritual is performed by new members of the Dartmouth Rugby team. It is facilitated by the upperclassmen members of the team and occurs at the practice every Friday before a game.

Cultural Context: Rugby involves a lot of running, so being fast and in good shape is essential. Racing is a good way to encourage other members to run faster and work on their speed. It is also important for building morale.

Item:

At the end of practice, the freshmen compete in foot races against each other. The upperclassmen call out who is racing in each race. They will call groups of people designated by something they have in common such as all freshmen from a certain city/state or all freshmen who live in a certain dorm building/housing cluster. They upperclassmen then get into groups around whoever they believe will win and cheer them on.

Video Interview: rugby1-1qu0lcm

Analysis:

In this ritual, freshmen are separated from the team to race against each other. They then race each Friday with upperclassmen cheering them on. They are incorporated into the team through these races by bonding with upperclassmen and having fun.

Comparison:

This ritual involves intense physical activity similar to the men’s swim team ritual of swimming every event. In both rituals, freshmen are separated to complete these physical tasks and are cheered on and encouraged by the other members of the team.

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