Big Green Cheer

General Information about Item:

  • Text/Music Folklore – Chant
  • Language: English
  • Country of Origin: United States
  • Informant: Megan Tao

  • Date Collected: 11-19-19

Informant Data:

  • Megan Tao was born in Los Gatos, California on November 16, 2001. Megan lived in Los Gatos for her whole life, until she moved to Hanover this September. She is in the Class of 2023 at Dartmouth. Megan started swimming when she was four years old because everyone in her neighborhood did. Her favorite stroke is breaststroke. 

Contextual Data: 

  • Cultural Context: The cultural context of this folklore describes a team cheer — something nearly every team does before a race. The chant performed not only heightens the energy of every individual teammate, but fosters a collective team culture, especially during a high-stress event. 
  • Social Context: The data was collected during a one-on-one interview in the Class of 1953 Commons at Dartmouth. Megan described a ritual that was passed down to her when she joined the Dartmouth Women’s Swim Team. The ritual gets Megan very excited to compete and race the other team. 

Item:

  • Megan discussed the women’s team cheer, Go Green, which the women perform before every meet. This chant has been passed down for many years.
  • Go Green Cheer: “Give me a G. G! Give me an R. R! Give me an E. E! Give me an E. E! Give me an N. N! What team? Big Green! What team? Big Green! (1, 2, 3). GO GREEN!”

Video of the Women’s Swim Team Performing Go Green:

IMG_0728

Transcript:

  • “College swim meets can be really intimidating as a freshman. However, our team cheer is something that always makes me feel included. It’s a way for the team to come together and gets all of us excited to race!”

Collector’s Comments: 

  • This ritual is very similar to the Frisbee Team’s cheer before their games as it includes the whole team. The difference between the cheers, though, it that the new members are immediately taught the cheer on the swim team, and the cheer is not a secret within the team. 
  • This is a rite of incorporation, as it welcomes the freshmen onto the team. 

Collector’s Name: Katherine Cane

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