Title: President Hanlon and the Hibachi Grill

General Information:

• Joke
• 4/27/2019
• English
• USA, Dartmouth College

Informant:

• Luke C. ‘20
• 20 years old
• Grew up in New York City, NY
• Studies Government at Dartmouth College

Contextual Data

Social Context:

• Luke said that he saw a meme with a still image from a promotional video of a popular video game. He decided to add a picture of a Hibachi grill and then superimpose, Phil Hanlon’s face to make a meme that was relevant to Dartmouth culture.
• This meme was intended to make light of the incident and Phil Hanlon as the digital embodiment of the university.

Cultural Context:

• In the fall of 2016 one of the dormitories at Dartmouth, Morton Hall, burned down because two students were attempting to grill on the roof of the building. This resulted in the building catching fire which cost the school millions of dollars and was a serious issue that the administration had to deal with.
• Phil Hanlon is the President of Dartmouth College and is very frequently used in memes about Dartmouth.

Quotes from the interview:

“Phil Hanlon embodies Dartmouth in human form. Memes like the critique and poke fun at the administration in a way that only Dartmouth student understand.”