Author Archives: f0024zp

Football Game

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  1. Football Game
  2. Informant Data: Brooke Hilliard is a 20-year-old, female, sophomore who attends Dartmouth University. She was born in Boston, Massachusetts, but she now lives in Hanover, New Hampshire during the school year.
  3. Type of lore: Customary; Genre: game
  4. Language: English
  5. Country of Origin: US
  6. Contextual Data: Brooke Hilliard attends Dartmouth College, and has attended the game herself.
  7. Item: Every year during homecoming, there is a homecoming football game. Usually, it is the biggest and most well-attended football game during the year. A lot of the student body and Dartmouth community attends this football game.
  9. Informant’s comments: it helps welcome the freshmen class and enable them to feel like they are part of the community.
  10. Collector’s comments: The football game is a traditional game that is really important for Dartmouth. Homecoming is centered on the football game; all events are planned around the football game. The game brings a great deal of pride to Dartmouth every year, and creates a space for the entire community to join together.
  11. Ritual, football game

Alumni Hookups

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  1. Alumni Hookups
  2. Informant Data: Chris Rowan is a 19-year-old, female, first year student who attends Dartmouth College. She was born in New York, New York, but she now resides in Hanover, New Hampshire during the school year.
  3. Type of lore: Customary/Verbal;Genre: Ritual/Myth
  4. Language: English
  5. Country of Origin: US
  6. Contextual Data: Chris Rowan attends Dartmouth College and participated in homecoming rituals her freshman year. She has never witnessed or participated in this ritual herself, but has heard about it from other students and upperclassmen.
  7. Item: Every year during homecoming, alumni couples return to the rooms where they first hooked up and try to recreate this moment.
  9. n/a
  10. Informant’s comments: This ritual is weird and disturbing.
  11. Collector’s comments: Dartmouth homecoming is a time for unity, bonding, and the incorporation of a new class. Even though the alumni are still a part of this community, they are also very distant from it at the same time. Hooking up in their old rooms makes alumni feel as though they never left; they are very much so a part of the Dartmouth community.
  12. Ritual, myth. Alumni hook-ups

Freshmen Sweep

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  1. Freshmen Sweep
  2. Informant Data: Monique Walters is an 18-year-old, female, freshman student who attends Dartmouth College. She was born in Long Island, New York, and she now resides in Hanover, New Hampshire during the school year.
  3. Type of lore: Customary; Genre: Ritual
  4. Language: English
  5. Country of Origin: US
  6. Contextual Data: Monique Walters attends Dartmouth College, and was part of the freshman sweep herself her freshman year.
  7. Item: Every year during homecoming, the first year students are swept up from their dorms by upperclassmen and brought to the bonfire on the Green as a complete class. The freshmen sweep moves dorm to dorm in a predetermined route.
  9. Informant’s comments: It is a fun ritual.
  10. Collector’s comments: Dartmouth students want to encourage the first year students’ participation in the ritual as much as possible. This is one way to ensure they show up and continue the rituals. This ritual also is another bonding experience for all the classes. While the freshmen are being swept up, the alumni walk around The Green with banners that have their class year on it and upperclassmen surround the bonfire awaiting the first year students. Freshman walk over feeling as if this community is strange, and once they are incorporated through the bonfire ritual then they can join the Dartmouth community.
  11. Ritual, freshmen sweep, bonfire

Homecoming Proposals

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  1. Homecoming Proposals
  2. Informant Data: Laura Sim is a 23-year-old, female, senior (‘16) who attends Dartmouth College. She was born in Southern California, but she now resides in Hanover, New Hampshire during the school year.
  3. Type of lore: Customary; Genre: ritual
  4. Language: English
  5. Country of origin: US
  6. Contextual Data: Laura Sim attends Dartmouth College and has participated in homecoming rituals during each of her years on campus. She witnessed three proposals this past homecoming.
  7. Item: Every year during homecoming, many recent alumni get proposed to/ engaged in front of the Dartmouth Hall steps. Many students and alumni know about this ritual.
  9. n/a
  10. Informant’s comments: It’s an exciting thing that happens
  11. Collector’s comments: Dartmouth College is a place that carries a lot of meaning for the people a part of the community. Dartmouth homecoming itself is about the unity and bonding of an entire community while embracing a new life. Proposing to someone carries some of the same meanings: it’s about unity and starting a new phase in a relationship.
  12. Ritual, proposals

Homecoming Food and Clothing

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  1. Homecoming Food and Clothing
  2. Informant Data: Laura Sim is a 23-year-old, female, senior (‘16) who attends Dartmouth College. She was born in Southern California, but she now resides in Hanover, New Hampshire during the school year.
  3. Type of lore: Material; Genre: ritual
  4. Language: English
  5. Country of Origin: US
  6. Contextual Data: Laura Sim is a senior at Dartmouth College and has participated in homecoming during each of her years on campus.
  7. Item: Every year during homecoming, the school provides hot cider and donuts in front of Collis for students and former students to drink and eat while they watch the bonfire. Students also wear sweaters and t-shirts with their class years on them.
  9. n/a
  10. Informant’s comments: No comment; she simply stated that this is a tradition of many and seemed very happy about it
  11. Collector’s comments: The hot cider and donut ritual helps bond the Dartmouth community through food. The wearing of clothing with students’ class year on it helps the Dartmouth community to identify which grade everyone is in, who has participated in the bonfire before, and it also helps bond the individual classes year after year. These rituals serve to unify the community.
  12. Ritual, food, clothing

Secret Greek Parties

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  1. Secret Greek Parties
  2. Informant Data: Darnell Marescot is a 20-year-old, male, sophomore (’18) who attends Dartmouth College. He was born in Elmont, New York, and he now resides in Hanover, New Hampshire during the school year.
  3. Type of lore: Customary/Verbal; Genre: Ritual/Myth
  4. Language: English
  5. Country of Origin: US
  6. Contextual Data: Darnell Marescot attends Dartmouth College, and during his freshman homecoming he heard all about secret Greek parties from other freshmen students and upperclassmen.
  7. Item: There are supposedly very exclusive Greek parties on campus, and only people who receive an invite can attend. Rumor has it that no one knows what is going to happen at these secret parties; they simply show up and expect to experience something abnormal.
  9. n/a
  10. Informant’s comments: it’s something cool that the Greek system does.
  11. Collector’s comments: There are Greek parties during homecoming; this is a ritual. However, the events that take place are exaggerated to create this mystery about Dartmouth homecoming. Dartmouth homecoming and traditions are often compared to a cult, so people feel in stories that help fit this tale, and secret, elusive parties are simply one of those stories that help continue this image of Dartmouth homecoming.
  12. Ritual, myth, secret parties

Homecoming Participation

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  1. Homecoming Participation
  2. Informant Data: Joseph Mears is a 20-year-old, male, sophomore (’18) who attends Dartmouth College. He was born in Cambridge, London, and he now resides in Hanover, New Hampshire during the school year.
  3. Type of lore: Verbal; Genre: superstition
  4. Language: English
  5. Country of Origin: US
  6. Contextual Data: Joseph Mears attends Dartmouth College and has participated in homecoming for each of his two years as a student.
  7. Item: Every year during homecoming, participation in the activities surrounding the ritual have many superstitions associated with them. If the freshmen class does not run around the fire or if one person in their class does not touch the fire, they are considered the worst class ever, and told that they will be cursed throughout their Dartmouth careers. If they do run around the bonfire 100 plus their class year number of times, their class will have good luck during their Dartmouth careers.
  9. n/a
  10. Informant’s comments: This superstition is a way that the upperclassmen show support or disapproval
  11. Collector’s comments: This superstition insures that the freshmen class participates in the homecoming rituals and complete their incorporation into the Dartmouth community. The bonfire ritual is a very important aspect of the Dartmouth community, and it is almost as if everyone has to complete this ritual or they will not be considered a true member of the community. This superstition helps facilitate the bonfire ritual.
  12. Superstition, homecoming participation

Homecoming Burning Freshman

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  1. Burning Freshman
  2. Informant Data: Ayana Whitmal is a 20-year-old, female, sophomore (’18) who attends Dartmouth College. She was born in Amherst, Massachusetts and now resides in Hanover, New Hampshire during the school year.
  3. Type of lore: Verbal; Genre: myth
  4. Language: English
  5. Country of Origin: US
  6. Contextual Data: Ayana Whitmal attends Dartmouth College, and has participated in homecoming for each of her two years as a student. She heard this myth from an upperclassmen her freshman year.
  7. Item: Every year, the upperclassman put one freshmen in the middle of the bonfire and burn them.
  9. Informant’s comments: The myth is a form of hazing
  10. Collector’s comments: This myth scares the freshmen into thinking homecoming is an awful event. It is the way for the upperclassmen to spook the freshmen almost as if an adult does when it tells a child a scary story at a campsite before bed. It creates this love-hate relationship with the upperclassmen. On the one hand, they are probably terrified of the upperclassmen, then after the bonfire they are joined with the entire Dartmouth community.
  11. Myth, burning freshman

Drinking Ritual

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  1. Drinking Ritual
  2. Informant Data: Ayana Whitmal is a 20-year-old, female, sophomore (’18) who attends Dartmouth College. She was born in Amherst, Massachusetts and now resides in Hanover, New Hampshire during the school year.
  3. Type of lore: Customary; Genre: ritual
  4. Language: English
  5. Country of Origin: US
  6. Contextual Data: Ayana Whitmal attends Dartmouth College and has been present for homecoming for two years.
  7. Item: Every year during homecoming, some students drink excessively so much so that drinking has become a ritual. The Greek system have all sorts of drinking games that students can partake in if they so choose.
  9. N/A
  10. Informant’s comments: The drinking rituals hold a specific meaning for Dartmouth students, and they want to induce this atmosphere.
  11. Collector’s comments: Homecoming is fun, and to Dartmouth, fun or having a good time involves drinking. This is a way for the student body to bond; to show friendship and so on. Drinking is encompassed in homecoming, and if it is not, homecoming is not truly homecoming in the students’ eyes.
  12. Ritual, Drinking

Running Around the Fire

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  1. Running Around the Fire
  2. Informant Data: Ayana Whitmal is a 20-year-old, female, sophomore (’18) who attends Dartmouth College. She was born in Amherst Massachusetts, and she now resides in Hanover, New Hampshire during the school year.
  3. Type of lore: Customary; Genre: Ritual
  4. Language: English
  5. Country of Origin: US
  6. Contextual Data: Ayana Whitmal attends Dartmouth College and has experienced this ritual herself.
  7. Item: Every year during homecoming, the school puts together a massive bonfire in the middle of their outside common space: The Green. The freshmen class runs around the bonfire 100 times plus their class year. Often, however, freshmen will decide to do a different number of laps, such as two digits of their class year. The freshmen will run around in a cordoned off area. The general student body can participate as well; most of the students cheer and yell at the freshmen as they run. Also, every year, alumni and anyone who was ever a part of the Dartmouth community have the option of attending the bonfire. However, the ritual of running around the bonfire is primarily designated for the freshman class.

  8. Link to drone video of tradition

  9. N/A
  10. Informant’s comments: People, particularly freshmen, go through it in order to gain an experience or knowledge that everyone else in the community already has
  11. Collector’s comments: This ritual is significant because it is a way for the Dartmouth community to incorporate the freshmen into their world. It is something that bonds the community together even more than the acceptance letters that all incoming Dartmouth students receive. The ritual is a way for the Dartmouth community to impart their own meaning on what it means to be accepted into the community.
  12. Ritual, Bonfire