Freshman Traditions
“Home Away From Home”

M.P. Miami, FL Fall 2018

Informant Data:

M. P. was born in Miami, Florida on March 3rd, 2000. She attended School of Advanced Studies in Miami, Florida, where she lives today. At Dartmouth, she is currently studying government. M.P. is a member of the Class of 2022. Outside of academics, M.P. enjoys playing pool at Collis and watching new TV shows on Netflix.

Contextual Data:

Cultural Context:

Dartmouth College was founded in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock and is the ninth-oldest institution in the United States. Dartmouth currently has 4,310 undergraduates. It is located in Hanover, New Hampshire. Dartmouth is known to be a small, research university that emphasizes a liberal arts curriculum to its students.

Social Context:

As a college that is over two centuries old, Dartmouth offers a distinct series of events that provide every new student with an iconic freshman year experience. Freshmen go through first-year outdoor trips, a matriculation ceremony, and more. The College on the Hill has unique traditions and rites of passage that welcome freshman into the Big Green community. 

Item:

MP loves a lot about Dartmouth. She loves the community, how goofy it is, and all the traditions. She believes that Dimensions and Dartmouth DOC Trips show you how dynamic and genuine and fun this place is, right off the bat. This goes for the twilight ceremony too, describing it as “culty.” A part of is the excitement when first being exposed to the community. She loved dancing on trips. Traditions provide even more than this. She believes that the original energy and goofiness from initial excitement can kind of fade, which is why traditions like the bonfire and polar plunge and ice sculptures and Green Key are so important. She felt like the community thrived from being an isolated and rural college. Its encouraging to see alumni making the trips to come back and visit. She said that characteristic is important to the integrity of Dartmouth as an institution.

*(M.P. preferred not to be filmed or recorded)

Transcript:

• What does Dartmouth Homecoming mean to you?
  • “The community”
  • Alumni tailgate of ’87, the alums invited everybody. “you’re a part of the Dartmouth community now”
  • “it’s a cult”
• Why did you choose Dartmouth?
  • Dartmouth bound
    • That fact that u can make friends so easily. The admissions time has a good sense of picking out their vibe and if you don’t like someone, you can at least resonate with them on a certain vibe
    • Its not as introverted that one would think “nerds” to be
    • The Dartmouth bound mentors/UGAs played a big factor
  • Campus is crazy beautiful. Wish there was more to do in town but a nice place to be. And even from Miami, I wanted to be away from the city for 4 years before going back since I will NEVER live in the woods again
  • Education is absolutely amazing and does not get the publicity it deserves
  • Wanted to go to school where most of its resources are spent for its undergrads
  • Dartmouth has a lot of great resources to help undergrads carry out their dreams
• What haven’t I asked you that I should have?
  • Would have been nice for the frat ban to have ended sooner but I understand why not. 
  • For things I would love to do again…I hiked Moosilauke my freshman fall which was really fun, and I’ve always wanted to go back to the Lodge for one of those dinners they’re always emailing about, but I never have time to spend two hours in a car going to and from, and I don’t have a car anyway. But I always have so much work to do

Collectors Comments: 

Dartmouth College is a unique community. It is in the middle of the woods and hard to get to. Yet, somehow, students love it so much that they often find themselves returning quite frequently. The experience in integrating into the community was so strong that they want to help new members of their folk group have the best rite of passage and incorporation into the group as well. There is also a notable feature that some rituals invoke stronger and longer emotional reactions as well. DOC trips feel short term sometimes while traditions like the Bonfire invoke a sense of community for nearly a lifetime to members.

Aneeq Chaudhry Dartmouth College Russian 13 Spring 2019