Folklore Disclosure Agreements
Leave a reply
Author Archives: f002166
Names of Collectors
Marc Bachman: Marc is a member of the class of 2018, involved in Greek life as a part of the Chi Heorot fraternity, and is a member of the varsity baseball team. He is from Fort Collins, Colorado.
Michael Danielak: Mike is a member of the class of 2016 and a member of the varsity baseball team. He is from Mt. Prospect, Illinois.
Thomas Roulis: Thomas is a member of the class of 2015, involved in Greek life as a part of the Chi Heorot fraternity, and is a member of the varsity baseball team. He is from New Hyde Park, New York.
Names of Informants
1.) Anonymous male member of the class of 2019 from San Francisco, California. He is not affiliated yet but enjoys spending time and playing pong at fraternities.
2.) Anonymous male member of the class of 2019 from Long Island, New York. He is a varsity athlete and isn’t affiliated with a fraternity.
3.) Patrick Peterson is a 2018 from Chicago, Illinois. He is a member of Chi Heorot fraternity. Patrick is very active in Greek life and has been single for his entire time at Dartmouth.
4.) Dustin Shirley is a 2018 from Los Angeles, California. He is a member of the varsity baseball team. Dustin had a serious relationship for a year at Dartmouth but has been single his sophomore year.
5.) AnnClaire MacArt is a 2018 from San Francisco, California. She is a member of the varsity swim team and a sister at Chi Delt sorority. She has not had a serious relationship here at Dartmouth.
6.) Anonymous female member of the class of 2017. She is from New York and a member of the cheerleading team. She is affiliated with a sorority and is currently in a serious relationship.
7.) Anonymous female member of the class of 2017. She is from Houston, Texas and is a sister at Alpha Phi sorority. She is very involved in Greek life and is currently single.
8.) Joe Purritano is a member of the class of 2016. He is also a member of the baseball team. He is from New Jersey. Joe has been single for one year at Dartmouth and had a long-distance relationship for three years here.
9.) Duncan Robinson is a member of the class of 2016. He is a member of Beta Alpha Omega fraternity and also a member of the baseball team. He was single throughout his first two years at Dartmouth, and has been in a long term relationship for his junior and senior year at Dartmouth.
10.) Charles Cai is a member of the Class of 2016 at Dartmouth College and on the golf team. He is brother at the Tri Kap fraternity. He is currently in a relationship.
Collectors’ notes: Not all informants were mentioned in our posts. This is because many of them touched upon the same subjects and we did not want to be too repetitive in our stories.
Conclusion
Dartmouth’s rural setting and tight-knit community have created many unique, campus-wide relationship traditions. Through our interviews with numerous informants we were able to collect common folkloric aspects of the relationship culture at Dartmouth College. All of the items we have presented are campus wide traditions that were passed on to these students as soon as they stepped foot on campus. The widespread and salient nature of this folklore collection proves, without a doubt, that these traditions have been present at Dartmouth College long before we came to campus and will continue to be present long after we are gone.
Dartmouth 7
Informant Information: Duncan Robinson is from Houston, Texas and a member of the Class of 2016 at Dartmouth College. He is a member of the baseball team and Beta Alpha Omega.
Type of Folklore: Customary Folklore (Customs)
Language: English
Country of Origin: United States of America
Social / Cultural Context: Duncan Robinson was asked what rituals within the Dartmouth dating community came to mind. The first ritual he responded with was the Dartmouth 7, as did many of our other informants. He also knew a few people who had completed some of the Dartmouth 7.
Associated File:
Transcript: “You also mentioned the Dartmouth 7 before, what is the Dartmouth 7? When did you hear about it?”
“Dartmouth 7, I think I heard about it very early on freshman year. It’s almost one of those like legendary things, like if you’re the person that did the Dartmouth 7 then oh that’s awesome for that guy or girl.”
“And what is the Dartmouth 7?”
“The Dartmouth 7 is the seven places you should have sex with someone else before you graduate. It is the 50 yard line, the Bema, the Stacks, the steps of Dartmouth Hall, the Green, the president’s lawn and the top of the Hop.”
Informant’s Comments: While the informant declined to comment on whether not he has completed any of the Dartmouth 7, he did say that he knew people who have complete some, if not all, of it.
Collector’s Comments: The Dartmouth 7 was mentioned by every single informant we interviewed. There is strong knowledge regarding the Dartmouth 7 among students on campus.A couple of informants also stated that they learned about the Dartmouth 7 while on their Dartmouth Outing Club (DOC) trips.
Formal
Informant Information: Chales Cai is a member of the Class of 2016 at Dartmouth. He is also a member of the golf team and the fraternity Kappa Kappa Kappa. He has had a girlfriend for one of his four years at Dartmouth.
Type of Folklore: Customary (festival) / Material (clothing)
Language: English
Country of Origin: United States of America
Social / Cultural Context: Formal is major dating event at Dartmouth. Inviting a person to formal is a great way to meet someone. Formals vary from fraternity to fraternity and sorority to sorority. Inviting a date to formal is widely thought as a much more serious step in a relationship than asking them to play a pong game. While pong is a game used to get to know people, students usually ask people to formal who they definitely have feelings for.
Associated File:
Transcript: “So you have formals, like fraternities and sororities have formals, all different types of clubs, so asking a girl to formal is a good way to meet them.”
“Are there any traditions in these formals or semi formals?”
“I guess it depends on each fraternity or sorority. Beta always has boat formal where they go out on a boat. Typically they are either around campus or at venues around the upper valley.”
“Do you have to wear anything special to these formals?”
“I mean people dress up, usually girls wear dresses, guys wear a suit and tie. I guess it’s a chance to look good and dress up, whereas most of the time you’re hanging out with a girl in the basement or playing pong.”
Informants Comments: Charles Cai discusses the boat formal that Beta Alpha Omega has every year. He also notes that formals vary from house to house, but that the traditions of folklore are very much alive.
Collector’s Comments:A second informant also discussed semi-formals. This informant told us that semi-formals are much more casual and involve certain themes often accompanied by wearing costumes. Semi-formals involve bringing a date as well.
Pong
Informant Information: Duncan Robinson is from Houston, Texas and a member of the Class of 2016 at Dartmouth College. He is a member of the baseball team and Beta Alpha Omega.
Joe Purritano is a member of the Class of 2016 from New Jersey. He is also a member of the baseball team. Joe has been single for one year at Dartmouth and had a long-distance relationship for three years here.
Type of Folklore: Customary Folklore (Game), Dance
Language: English
Country of Origin: United States of America
Social / Cultural Context: Pong is one of the most important games to the Dartmouth dating life. Pong provides an opportunity for a first date and is also a great socialization game. This allows for a couple to break the ice without the formality of a traditional dinner date.
Associated File:
Transcript:(Duncan: 1st video) “You said a lot of time guys and girls meet in basements, I assume you mean like fraternity or sorority basements. Are there games or how do they engage with one another?”
“Pong, pong date is always a classic. You play your date, play pong with her or him and hopefully that leads somewhere even better.”
(Joe: 2nd video) “I would say that pong seems to be a great date night here. Really not a whole lot to do on campus outside of fraternities. So I think people save the actually dinner date for the later steps and get right to it with pong, a pong game.”
Collector’s Comments: The majority of our informants claimed that a game of pong was a great tool to break the ice with girls. Pong was always the first thing mentioned when asked about how people meet at Dartmouth. It is also customary for partners (dates) to incorporate handshakes or dances after hitting a cup to make the event more intimate (see pong dance/handshake video).