Category Archives: Customary Lore

Bump Groups

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Title: Bump Groups

Information about Item:

  • Verbal and customary folklore
  • Informant: K.P.
  • Collected 05/20/2020

Informant Data:

K.P. is a member of the Class of 2020 at Dartmouth and is affiliated with Greek Life. She is from Vermont and studies Chemistry.

Contextual Data:

  • Cultural: Bump groups are groups of members in sororities that rotate potential new members through a house. A potential new member will talk to each member in a bump group, usually without knowing that they are being rotated between people in this group.
  • Social: This item was collected through video chat. This cultural artifact is only relevant to members that are already a part of the sorority in question. Potential new members are usually unaware of these groups during the rush process.

Item: Bump groups are a part of each sorority’s culture and exist as a way to have greater interaction with potential new members to see if they are a good fit for their organization.

Collector’s Comments:

What makes this item distinct is that it is a part of the rush process that potential new members are unaware of. It exists as a way for a sorority to do a better job of evaluating potential new members.

Collector’s Name: Sanjit Deepalam

Tags/Keywords:

  • Saying
  • Customary folklore
  • Sorority rush

Signing the Book

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Title: Signing the Book

Information about Item:

  • Verbal and customary folklore
  • Informant: N.R.
  • Collected 5/26/2020

Informant Data:

N.R. is a member of the Class of 2020 at Dartmouth and is affiliated with Greek Life. He is from Illinois and studies Economics.

Contextual Data:

  • Verbal: “Signing the book” is the term given to literally signing a book at a particular fraternity.
  • Custom: By signing the book, a potential new fraternity member lets a house know that he is interested in rushing regardless of whether he shakes out or not.

Item: Potential new members of fraternity organizations sign a book to indicate their interest in joining.

Collector’s Comments:

This saying is similar to a shake out, which is a another way for potential new members to indicate their interest in joining a particular fraternity.

Collector’s Name: Sanjit Deepalam

Tags/Keywords:

  • Verbal folklore
  • Customary folklore
  • Ritual
  • Fraternity rush

Rush Chair

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Title: Rush Chair

Information about Item:

  • Verbal and customary folklore
  • Informant: R.M.
  • Collected 05/23/2020

Informant Data:

R.M. is a female member of the Class of 2020 at Dartmouth and is affiliated with Greek Life. She is from New York and studies philosophy.

Contextual Data:

  • Verbal: “Rush Chair” is a title given to a member of a sorority that is in charge of organizing the rush process at her house.
  • Custom: The Rush Chair inputs information into the computer system about which girls will be called back for each round of the rush process

Item: One member of an existing Greek house is appointed the Rush Chair and organizes the rush process.

Collector’s Comments:

This item is actually a position of power within the sorority. The Rush Chair has a variety of responsibilities and has a great deal of control over the overall rush process and is a key part of making  rush a success.

Collector’s Name: Sanjit Deepalam

Tags/Keywords:

  • Verbal folklore
  • Customary folklore
  • Rush process
  • Sorority rush

Pre-rush events

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Title: Pre-rush events

Information about Item:

  • Form of customary folklore
  • Informant: S.I.
  • Date Collected: 5/8/2020

Informant Data:

  • S.I. is a female member of the Class of 2021 at Dartmouth. She is affiliated with Greek Life, and she is from California.

Contextual Data:

  • Cultural: Events where sororities invite potential new members to the house. This allows the potential new members to meet sisters and check out the house before the official rush process begins.
  • Social: This information was collected through a video chat interview.

Item:

  • An event associated with sorority rush that happens before the official rush process begins.

Collector’s Name: Gia Kim

Tags/Keywords:

  • Customary folklore
  • events
  • Sorority rush

Rush Lunches

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Title: Rush Lunches

Information about Item:

  • Customary folklore
  • Informant: S.B.
  • Collected 5/17/2020

Informant Data:

S.B. is a member of the Class of 2020 at Dartmouth from New Jersey. He is affiliated with Greek Life and is studying Mathematics.

Contextual Data:

  • Cultural: Rush lunches may be a part of the Interfraternity Council rush process.
  • Social: This item was collected through a video chat interview. According to the informant, rush lunches add a new component to the rush process by allowing more personal connections to be formed. The potential new members are able to get to know current members of the specific organization.

Item:

Rush Lunches are organized events where members of a specific fraternity may go to lunch with a potential new member.

Collector’s Comments:

I found this item to be informative of fraternity rush, as it displays an aspect of the rush process that occurs in smaller groups and allows for more conversation. It seems as though this would help potential new members decide if they are interested in a specific fraternity.

Collector: Meredith Srour

Tags/Keywords:

  • Customary folklore
  • Fraternity rush

Rush Round Themes

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Title: Rush Round Themes

Information about Item: 

  • Material folklore
  • Customary folklore
  • Informant: H.W.
  • Collected 5/13/2020

Informant Data:

H.W. is a member of the Class of 2020 at Dartmouth from Portland, OR. She is affiliated with Greek Life at Dartmouth.

Contextual Data:

  • Cultural: Rush rounds are the three steps of the Inter-sorority Council (ISC) sorority rush process taking place over 1.5 weeks.
  • Social: The item was collected through a video chat interview. Only current members of the organization dress according to the theme. According to the informant, the social significance of this item is that it is a way to “be memorable” to potential new members and ultimately tells something about the specific organization.

Item:

Current members of sororities may dress according to different themes for the three rounds of the rush process. Some examples given by the informant are Outer Space theme and Rock and Roll theme.

Collector’s Comments:

This item made clear the importance of how the Greek organization presents itself to potential new members during the rush process.

Collector: Meredith Srour

Tags/Keywords:

  • Material folklore
  • Customary folklore
  • Sorority Rush
  • Themes

 

 

Fraternity Shake Out

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Title: Fraternity Shake Out

Information about Item:

  • Customary folklore
  • Verbal folklore
  • Informant: K.I.
  • Collected 5/18/2020

Informant Data:

The informant, K.I., is a member of the Class of 2020 at Dartmouth. He is from Massachusetts. At Dartmouth, he is affiliated with Greek Life and is studying Engineering.

Contextual Data:

  • Cultural: Shake Out is a part of the Interfraternity Council rush process.
  • Social: The information was collected through a video chat interview. Participants in Shake Out are potential new members of the Greek organizations, and the event indicates possible intent to join a specific house.

Item:

Shake Out is a two-night event that occurs during fraternity rush. For this event, potential members must shake the hands of current members. Additionally, during Shake Out, potential members communicate their interest in a Greek organization by signing their name in a book.

Collector’s Comments: 

I found this item to be interesting, as it indicates a unique component of the fraternity rush process. I was not aware of the details of this process prior to the interview.

Collector’s Name: Meredith Srour

Tags/Keywords: 

  • Customary folklore
  • Verbal folklore
  • Fraternity rush

Fraternity Shake Out Clothing

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Title: Fraternity Shake Out Clothing

Information about Item:

  • Material folklore
  • Customary folklore
  • Informant: R.B.
  • Collected 5/13/2020

Informant Data:

R.B. is a member of the Class of 2020 at Dartmouth and is affiliated with Greek Life. He is from California and studying Engineering.

Contextual Data:

  • Cultural: Shake Out is a step of the Interfraternity Council rush process.
  • Social: This item was collected through a video chat interview. Not all fraternities request that potential new members wear formal attire. It may be “out of respect” to dress formally, and this is only done by potential new members.

Item: Potential new members of fraternity organizations wear formal attire for the Shake Out event.

Collector’s Comments:

This item is similar to a different item collected- Sorority Pref Night clothing. Formal attire may be required for both processes, potentially indicating the significance and formality of certain events.

Collector’s Name: Meredith Srour

Tags/Keywords:

  • Material folklore
  • Customary folklore
  • Clothing
  • Fraternity rush

Disinfecting After Work

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Ritual
Disinfecting After Work

Ross Johnson
Chicago, Illinois
2020

Informant Data:
Ross Johnson is a Caucasian, middle-aged father of one who lives in Chicago, Illinois. He is the manager of a meat packing plant where he works Monday through Friday every week. Even when many businesses closed, his meat packing plant stayed open with social distancing measures in place. Having to go out five out of seven days a week, even in lieu of stay-at-home orders, there were concerns that he could become infected, or have the virus on his clothes and bring it home to his family. To prevent this to the best of his ability, he did his best to make sure that he was disinfected when he got home, before ever actually stepping foot into his house.

Contextual Data:
The global pandemic that has been plaguing our world since the beginning of the year has led to stay-at-home orders in almost every state, and social distancing restrictions across the globe. Many businesses were forced to close their doors for the time being, unless they were deemed essential. Ross Johnson’s meat packing plant was allowed to stay open as long as they took the appropriate measures such as wearing masks the entirety of the time and staying socially distanced.

Item:
Being able to continue working through the pandemic has been a real blessing, but also means that I have an increased risk of exposure to coronavirus. The last thing I want to do is accidentally bring it home with me and infect my wife or daughter, so whenever I get home I follow the same routine to make sure I’m completely clean and disinfected before going into my house. As soon as I get home from work, I stand in the garage while my wife sprays me down with industrial strength disinfectant. Then I leave my work clothes in the garage and go hop in the shower. After all of that I feel much more comfortable being around my family so I make sure that I follow this routine every single time I come home from work.

Isaac Hanover, 20
533 Homestead Drive
Lima, Ohio, 45807
Dartmouth College
RUSS 13
Spring 2020

Disinfecting Products from Stores

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Ritual
Disinfecting Products from Stores

Jenni Jones
Kansas City, Missouri
2020

Informant Data:
Jenni Jones is a Caucasian mother of two. She lives in Kansas City, Missouri and does a significant amount of the grocery shopping for her family. With the recent coronavirus pandemic, she has become increasingly worried about inadvertently bringing the virus into her house via the items from the grocery store. She has concerns that the items could have been infected when shipped to the store, or by an infected person in the store coming into contact with the product. As a result, she has taken increased measures to ensure that the products she buys and brings into her house are clean.

Contextual Data:
Due to the coronavirus pandemic, many restrictions have been placed upon the general public, such as social distancing measures and stay-at-home orders. However, people still need food and as a result, still must go grocery shopping. Concerns of infected products being brought into one’s home is quite high, so many people have begun making sure that they clean the products before bringing them into their homes with their families.

Item:
The coronavirus pandemic has been really scary. It’s really worrisome to realistically have no idea whether or not someone or something that you have come into contact with was infected with the virus. In an attempt to have peace of mind, and to help protect my family, we’ve started wiping down all of the things we buy at the store with disinfecting wipes in the garage before we bring them into the house. We also make sure to thoroughly wash any and all produce in the sink before putting it into the refrigerator. While it’s impossible to tell whether or not something is actually fully clean, it’s much more comforting knowing that we wiped everything down before it even got through the door.

Isaac Hanover, 20
533 Homestead Drive
Lima, Ohio, 45807
Dartmouth College
RUSS 13
Spring 2020