Author Archives: f001yr8

5:45 am Wake-up

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Title: 5:45 am Wake-up

General Information about Item:

  • Customary Folklore: Tradition, Song
  • Language: English
  • Country where Item is from: USA

Informant Data:

Ethan Isaacson lives in Lexington, Massachusetts, and is currently a student at Dartmouth in the class of 2018. He was born on January 5th, 1996, and is studying chemistry and physics. He went on freshman trips when he was an incoming freshman, was a trip leader his sophomore year, and was on Hanover Croo, known as HCroo, this past fall, so has seen many different aspects of the trips program.

Leigh Steinberg was born and raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and was born on April 19, 1996. She is a student at Dartmouth in the class of 2018 and is a history major and plans on going into consulting after graduation. She was a trip leader before her sophomore year of college and was on Hanover Croo, known as HCroo, this past fall.

Contextual Data:

At 5:45 am, HCroo wakes up all the trippees and trip leaders in a loud and fun manner. It is experienced by everyone, and serves to bring the freshman closer together.

Item:

The first night of trips is spent in the Levronne field house. The next morning, everybody is woken up at 5:45 am to the song, Circle of Life, from the Lion King. HCroo is wearing onesies and flair and runs all around the field house to wake everybody up and get people moving quickly. Once this song ends, they then play other morning songs like Good Morning Baltimore. They are supposed to help people get moving in the morning and provide a fun way to start the morning before being sent to the woods for four days.

Transcript of Informant Interview:

We wake them up to the Circle of Life from the Lion King. It’s like again, everything on trips is crazier than the version of it in real life. So we tell them we are going to wake them up at 5:45, which they already are unhappy about, that’s the one thing we don’t lie to them about. And then when we wake them up, we are all wearing onesies or other animal costumes and we start blasting Circle of Life and go running to their faces. There’s a morning medley, so like Good Morning Baltimore and other morning songs. Like we would play certain songs if we really needed them to get the fuck out. I would say a lot of HCroo is centered around trying to herd cats in the nicest way possible while also trying to be fun.

Informant’s Comments:

The wake up serves a practical purpose on top of trying to be fun, as they need the trippees to get moving early. They need to be crazy to motivate students to move faster in the morning.

Collector’s Comments:

I remember being so tired the morning of my trip, but the fun wake-up made the morning much better.

Collector’s Name: Henry Senkfor

Tags/Keywords:

  • Trips, DOC, morning, Circle of Life, morning, wake-up

The Medley

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Title: The Medley

General Information about Item:

  • Customary Folklore: Dance, Tradition, Song
  • Language: English
  • Country where Item is from: USA

Informant Data:

Ethan Isaacson lives in Lexington, Massachusetts, and is currently a student at Dartmouth in the class of 2018. He was born on January 5th, 1996, and is studying chemistry and physics. He went on freshman trips when he was an incoming freshman, was a trip leader his sophomore year, and was on Hanover Croo, known as HCroo, this past fall, so has seen many different aspects of the trips program.

Leigh Steinberg was born and raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and was born on April 19, 1996. She is a student at Dartmouth in the class of 2018 and is a history major and plans on going into consulting after graduation. She was a trip leader before her sophomore year of college and was on Hanover Croo, known as HCroo, this past fall.

Contextual Data:

The Medley is taught first by HCroo and then by Lodj Croo again to the trippees. It is the first thing that happens on trips, as before trippees even meet people on their trips or their trip leaders, they do the medley, making it a defining moment in their Dartmouth careers. It is meant to build bonds and reduce the awkwardness.

Item:

One of the most iconic parts of trips is the dances to certain songs. The playlist of songs, known as the medley, all have choreographed line dances that HCroo and Lodj Croo members teach the incoming freshman each year. The playlist changes slightly every year, but there are some permanent fixtures like Everytime we Touch, I’m on a Roll, and Blame it on the Boogie. However, there are some songs that only are in the medley for a year, like Waka Waka and September. The dances really help freshman overcome the awkwardness, and by the time trips ends, people get very into the dances.

Transcript of Informant Interview:

So we call it the medley. So it’s like 4 or 5 per year, some of them are permanent fixtures, some of them rotate. They are pop songs that most people know with simple dances that we can easily teach people. Line dances. Um that’s like pretty much it. It’s like very much a cornerstone of trips culture. I would say especially Everytime we Touch, which is the main one. It’s a fun way to break down barriers, and I don’t know, as an HCrooling, it is cool because we got to see them do the dances at three different points. So they did them like the first afternoon when they got to the lawn. Some of them were super receptive, some of them, like section B for us, we couldn’t get a single one to do them. It was brutal. But then we also see them dance again later that night after the safety show. And even in those like 8 hours between those two, they are so much more comfortable dancing in Sarner Underground with us after we have performed the Safety Show and everyone gets really into it. And we also get to see them when they get back from the Lodj, they may or may not be sick of it, but they definitely participated and were happy to do it one more time, so it’s kind of cool we get to see them, like the uh it’s like a proxy to see how they are feeling about trips and Dartmouth at that time. And to see them getting more comfortable and enjoying them is cool.

The songs this year, the permanent ones were Everytime We Touch, which we learned cuz we crashed a wedding was, is more recent than we think, maybe from 2011. So its super recent. And then Blame it on the Boogie by the Jackson 5 is a permanent one. Yeah that’s permanent. So like sunshine moonlight good times. Um, another recent one is I’m on a Roll. My ex wants sex tonight, we pulled that line out. And um Salty Dog Rag, those are the four.

Every year, the directorate makes a new one, but these have a varying degree of stickiness. For example, one year it was Waka Waka, but I think that got cut out. One year it was Shut up and Dance, but that year, the Lodj captains for our year, made that, so they did it at the Lodj but we didn’t because no one on our croo knew it. And then September was this year and it was not a well thought out dance so we did not have people do it.

Informant’s Comments:

  • They said that after a few days of doing the dances multiple times, they got sick of them quite quickly.

Collector’s Comments:

  • Not everybody knows that it is called the medley, as some people just know them as the trips songs and dances

Collector’s Name: Henry Senkfor

Tags/Keywords:

  • Medley, Everytime we Touch, DOC, trips, dance, tradition

Jewball

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Title: Jewball

General Information about Item:

  • Customary Folklore: Tradition, Celebration
  • Language: English
  • Country where Item is from: USA

Informant Data:

Ethan Isaacson lives in Lexington, Massachusetts, and is currently a student at Dartmouth in the class of 2018. He was born on January 5th, 1996, and is studying chemistry and physics. He went on freshman trips when he was an incoming freshman, was a trip leader his sophomore year, and was on Hanover Croo, known as HCroo, this past fall, so has seen many different aspects of the trips program.

Leigh Steinberg was born and raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and was born on April 19, 1996. She is a student at Dartmouth in the class of 2018 and is a history major and plans on going into consulting after graduation. She was a trip leader before her sophomore year of college and was on Hanover Croo, known as HCroo, this past fall.

Contextual Data:

Jewball is an event that takes place every year between all members who help run trips. It serves as a culminating celebration for successfully running a 3 week outdoor program without the help of any adults that 95%+ of freshman go on. It is meant as a way to relax, celebrate their last night together, and see friends who they have not seen in a couple weeks.

Item:

The night trips ends, anyone who worked on a Croo goes to the Lodj for a celebration. There is drinking, celebrating, dancing, and many trips-related activites. It is a great time way for Croo members to spend their last night together and see their friends on other Croos that they have not seen in a few weeks. The next morning, all Croos help to clean the Lodj, as they do not have time to clean it all, so they appreciate all the manpower possible. This has been going on for as long as they know.

Transcript of Informant Interview:

So, um Jewball is, it’s not always called that, but this year it was called Jewball, is the party after trips with all of the crews, so HCroo, Vox Croo, Lodj Croo, Grant Croo, Oak Hill Croo and Climbing Croo all come together and there is alcohol for the first time in three weeks and everyone is very tired and out of trips mode for the first time in 3 weeks, well kind of out of trips mode. And you like do dancing and stuff and night, we all sleep in the Lodj, and you all wake up, disassemble and clean the Lodj top to bottom. Yeah it is basically a big ploy to get all of the Croolings at the Lodj so that they can hold us hostage so that we clean it. Basically, like every other Croo has time to clean everything because of the way the trips timeline works. So we, with a week out, weren’t even sending trips, so welcoming them back after the Lodj is very, very low maintenance, so we were slowly cleaning up everything so by the last day of trips everything was done. But the Lodj sends trippees off and like 5 hours later has this party so they don’t have the manpower or time to clean everything. But it was really fun. A lot of trips songs, we did the dances again, the cleaning wasn’t fun. The directors of trips acknowledge every director of trips, so like the leaders of the croos and the logistic people behind the scenes, and so I don’t know it’s sorta like an in between of everyone wanting to spend their last night together but also seeing friends and people from other croos for the first time in a few weeks, so it’s an interesting balance between all of them.

Informant’s Comments:

They both talked very highly of the events at night, but hated doing the cleaning of the lodj the next day.

Collector’s Comments:

This seemed like a more secretive event, unlike most other things the croos do. I had never heard about it until very recently, and I do not think it is often disclosed to people.

Collector’s Name: Henry Senkfor

Tags/Keywords:

  • Trips, DOC, Celebration, Lodj

The Castle

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Title: The Castle

General Information about Item:

  • Material: Places
  • Language: English
  • Country where Item is from: USA

Informant Data:

Ethan Isaacson lives in Lexington, Massachusetts, and is currently a student at Dartmouth in the class of 2018. He was born on January 5th, 1996, and is studying chemistry and physics. He went on freshman trips when he was an incoming freshman, was a trip leader his sophomore year, and was on Hanover Croo, known as HCroo, this past fall, so has seen many different aspects of the trips program.

Leigh Steinberg was born and raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and was born on April 19, 1996. She is a student at Dartmouth in the class of 2018 and is a history major and plans on going into consulting after graduation. She was a trip leader before her sophomore year of college and was on Hanover Croo, known as HCroo, this past fall.

Contextual Data:

The members of HCroo are thrown into the castle immediately, right when trips starts. It forces them to get close, breaks down any barriers, and they learn to live together very quickly.

Item:

Every year, all of HCroo sleeps in the basement of Mid Fay Hall, on 15 cots all crammed in one room that they call, “The Castle.” There is no personal space, everything is communal, and is as close quarters as it gets. It breaks down any barriers immediately, as they are all thrown into the room together and have to learn to live together.

Transcript of Informant Interview:

We call it “The Castle.” 15 cots in Mid Fay basement. Um so there is thin construction paper taped over the windows that makes the lighting in there all orange and weird. Which reminded us of our mood meter journals. And then there were streamers and posters all around. Very campy. We all had a chair for our closet and under bed space. It was very cramped. It was like camp cots, WWI style living. As close quarters as it gets.

It’s been like this as long as I know. But it’s fun. The barrier is broken down totally immediately. Like you walk in and you are sleeping in a room with like girls and guys, these 15 people I’ve never met. We’re sleeping here, waking up here, all of our clothes are thrown everywhere. We are sharing clothes. Like all of these things that make a group inherently close were all there.

Informant’s Comments:

It was extremely cramped and there was absolutely no personal space the entire time.

Collector’s Comments:

While they both spoke positively about this experience, it seemed like there was some tension they were not talking about. They dropped some hints about some issues that went on behind the scenes, but overall they liked the experience of The Castle.

Collector’s Name: Henry Senkfor

Tags/Keywords:

  • DOC, Trips, Sleeping, Castle

Story Time at Leverone

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Title: Story time at Leverone

General Information about Item:

  • Customary: Tradition, Initiation
  • Language: English
  • Country where Item is from: USA

Informant Data:

Ethan Isaacson lives in Lexington, Massachusetts, and is currently a student at Dartmouth in the class of 2018. He was born on January 5th, 1996, and is studying chemistry and physics. He went on freshman trips when he was an incoming freshman, was a trip leader his sophomore year, and was on Hanover Croo, known as HCroo, this past fall, so has seen many different aspects of the trips program.

Leigh Steinberg was born and raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and was born on April 19, 1996. She is a student at Dartmouth in the class of 2018 and is a history major and plans on going into consulting after graduation. She was a trip leader before her sophomore year of college and was on Hanover Croo, known as HCroo, this past fall.

Contextual Data:

This happens the first night of trips, as takes place between the members of HCroo and the new freshman class. It is meant as a way to help assuage fears, provide advice for the freshman, and make everyone feel more comfortable with one another.

Item:

Until last year, HCroo would always read the story of The Lorax to the freshman right before they went to bed. They did so in order to tie them to the roots of Dartmouth, as Dr. Seuss was one of our notable alumni, and to start the campy feel to trips. However, they changed this tradition last year and replaced it with HCroo talks, which are short talks that a few HCroo members give each day to convey advice to the incoming freshman.

Associated file (a video, audio, or image file):

  • Did not want to be recorded

Transcript of Associated File:

So what used to happen was that people would read the Lorax to the trippees. And I think the point of that was like silly camping that goes with the whole trips spirit but also people thought it was stupid and condescending and a waste of everybody’s time. Um so it disappeared last year and this year was replaced with three brief-ish statements from HCroo to the trippees, the purpose of which was to convey what I wish I was told when I was in your shoes. Um and people used that opportunity to do a lot of different things.

It was also helpful in that with flair and the dress it makes them feel more comfortable by us being crazy, it was a nice moment of reflection where we could come back down to earth and relate to them on a more we were once in your shoes, we understand what you’re going through, and just bringing it down in a more real way rather than adding on to the goofy silly camp stuff.

Informant’s Comments:

Collector’s Comments:

Collector’s Name: Henry Senkfor

Tags/Keywords:

  • Trips, DOC, Lorax, Story, Leverone, Night

Flair/Dyed Hair

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Title: Flair/Dyed Hair

General Information about Item:

  • Material: Clothing
  • Language: English
  • Country where Item is from: USA

Informant #1 Data:

Ethan Isaacson lives in Lexington, Massachusetts, and is currently a student at Dartmouth in the class of 2018. He was born on January 5th, 1996, and is studying chemistry and physics. He went on freshman trips when he was an incoming freshman, was a trip leader his sophomore year, and was on Hanover Croo, known as HCroo, this past fall, so has seen many different aspects of the trips program.

Leigh Steinberg was born and raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and was born on April 19, 1996. She is a student at Dartmouth in the class of 2018 and is a history major and plans on going into consulting after graduation. She was a trip leader before her sophomore year of college and was on Hanover Croo, known as HCroo, this past fall.

Informant #2 Data:

  • The informant is a Dartmouth ’18 male. He went on a first-year trip in September 2014 and was a member of Lodj Croo in September 2017.

Informant #3 Data:

  • The informant is a Dartmouth ’18 female. She went on a first-year trip in September 2014, was a member of Lodj Croo in September 2015, and served as one of the two Lodj Croo Captains in September 2017.

Informant #4 Data:

  • The informant is a Dartmouth ’18 female. She is active in the Native American Community on campus, SPCSA, and Sigma Delta. She is a Government and Native American Studies modified with Anthropology double major from Martha’s Vineyard. She went on cabin camping in September 2014, but never led a trip or was on a croo.

Contextual Data:

People are wearing flair and have dyed hair from the first moment freshman arrive on campus. Flair is also prevalent during many other times at Dartmouth, like weekend social events and club meetings. It is used as a sign of expression and individuality at Dartmouth.

Item:

All Croos are known for wearing a lot of flair during trips and also are known for dying their hair wild colors. They do so in order to try to teach the incoming freshman to have a good time and not worry about what other people think about them, as the Croos all look ridiculous but they do not care. It also serves a practical purpose, as it helps distinguish who the Croolings are versus who are trip leaders and trippees. This tradition has been going as long as they know.

Transcript of Informant #1 Interview:

So part of it is that we look crazier and more embarrassing than they ever could. There’s a line in the safety show that goes, “nobody cares about your clothing. Look at us we look like clowns.” And I think that’s partially true that it’s a cool approach that they can’t look more ridiculous. Um but also the craziness is an interesting part of trips culture and Dartmouth culture and it’s just the sense of them being inducted into this very insular and weird community that accepts them fairly unconditionally. And that the crazy colorful appearances are a physical manifestation of that.

I think it also has a practical application of really distinguishing us from trip leaders and trippees. It’s like a more fun neon staff shirt.

Informant #1’s Comments:

  • She sees flair as one of the integral parts of trips to make people feel more comfortable

Collector’s Comments:

  • Flair seems to be more common at Dartmouth than any other school I have heard about

Collector’s Name: Henry Senkfor

Transcript of Informant #2 Interview:

“Another thing Lodj croo does is that we dye our hair and wear flair at all times. No normal clothing, and many of us dye our hair a different color. I went blue. The reason we do that is so that the trippees don’t feel like the weirdest or most awkward person in the room. If we’re making a fool out of ourselves, it’s easier for them to feel confident in themselves.”

Informant #2’s Comments:

  • Informant sees flair as a fun part of trips.

Collector’s Comments:

  • Informant #2 has a large flair collection and kept his hair dyed for a long time.

Collector’s Name: Roshni Chandwani

Transcript of Informant #3 Interview:

“One of the biggest ones for croos and Dartmouth is flair, obviously. Everyday, we get into a new costume, and that’s definitely a really fun part of trips and makes the incoming class realize how important flair is to Dartmouth, and that will carry out throughout their time at Dartmouth beyond trips. One that’s important to croos would be dying your hair. Dying your hair is really important. The point of it is that you can be easily identified as a crooling, as opposed to a trip leader, so if something’s going and you’re not sure, you can find somebody with crazy hair and ask them questions. That, paired with the flair, helps croolings stand out from everyone else involved with trips as people who are a little more self-deprecating and willing to make fun of themselves, and that helps freshmen feel more comfortable as they come in. And even though they’re awkward and embarrassed, we’re all weird and awkward, so it’s fine.”

Informant #3’s Comments:

  • Informant noted that the purpose of flair is to make everyone feel comfortable in being wacky.

Collector’s Comments:

  • Informant #3 has a large flair collection that she still uses.

Collector’s Name: Roshni Chandwani

Transcript of Informant #4 Interview:

“Its funny cause you drive up and your parents are in the car, and they’re like why are these people wearing ridiculous outfits? And then so you move and they kind of just drop you off. Then when you get assigned to your trip leaders, they are also dressed in ridiculous outfits per usual. And, as a senior, the concept of flair is still going strong. Especially once you enter a Greek house and such.”

Informant #4’s Comments:

  • Informant has a large flair collection given to her by graduated members of her sorority. Today, as a senior she sees flair more within the personally relevant frame of its place at Dartmouth within Greek life and theme parties. She sees flair as a way for Dartmouth students to show their playful side.

Collector’s Comments:

  • It’s interesting how this aspect of DOC Trips folklore continues to be relevant to Dartmouth students throughout their time at the school, regardless of their subsequent participation (or not) in the trips program. In this case, the informant is not involved in trips after her own trip or even the outing club.

Collector’s Name: Clara Silvanic

Tags/Keywords:

Flair, Dyed hair, DOC, Trips, Clothing