Tag Archives: Challenges

The Ledyard Bridge Challenge (Annabel Revers)

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Title: The Ledyard Bridge Challenge

General Information:

  • Type: Verbal Folklore
  • Language: English
  • Country of Origin: United States
  • Informant: KC ’18
  • Date Collected: 11/5/2021
  • Location Collected: Phone Call

Informant Data:

  • KC ’18 is a twenty-five-year-old female and a Dartmouth alumni. She is a member of the Class of 2018 and studied Economics and Environmental studies during her time at Dartmouth. She is from Vancouver, Canada, but is now living in New York City where she works as a consultant. During her time at Dartmouth, she was a member of a sorority and enjoyed spending time with her friends when she was not busy with work.

Contextual Data

  • Cultural Context: Dartmouth has various traditions that can be classified as “challenges.” While their origins are often unknown, these challenges provide students with both entertainment during their time at Dartmouth and the opportunity to participate in and perpetuate Dartmouth traditions. They also provide Dartmouth students with the opportunity to prove that they can do something challenging outside of academics and sports. Furthermore, they create a bond among the friends that attempt them together. These traditions are passed down among generations of students, and the “Ledyard Bridge Challenge” is just one of many such challenges.
  • Social Context: The Ledyard Challenge is typically attempted in warmer months when the water temperature is bearable to swim in. Many students aim to complete this challenge at least once during their time at Dartmouth. Sophomore Summer, or the summer during which the entire sophomore class takes summer courses, is a fairly typical time to complete the challenge because of the warm weather. The Ledyard Challenge is one of the riskier challenges in Dartmouth culture because of the possibility of being caught by campus security or Hanover police. Because of this, it is also a challenge that is quite effective in bonding students through common experience.

Item:

  • The “Ledyard Bridge Challenge,” also called “Ledyard,” refers to the challenge of a person, or more commonly a group, removing their clothing and swimming across the Connecticut River. The participants then run back across the Ledyard Bridge and dress themselves before they get caught by campus security or the police. For example, a student will ask their friend, “Want to do Ledyard later tonight?”.

Associated File:

  • Transcript: “I first heard about Ledyard my freshman year. Pretty much everyone on campus at least knows what it is by then. The thought of it terrified me at first, but I finally had the guts to try it my sophomore summer. Luckily my friends and I successfully completed the challenge without getting caught. I was so relieved! I think most people try the challenge at least once during their time at Dartmouth. As far as I can tell, it’s a tradition that’s been passed down for decades now, usually just through upperclassmen talking about it to younger students. I think most people wanna try it just for a thrill and to spice up their time here. Life gets a little monotonous on campus sometimes and you have to find ways to keep yourself entertained. It also makes you feel like you’re really a part of Dartmouth once you complete the challenge, like you really belong.”

Informant’s Comments:

  • Even though I found the Ledyard Challenge very stressful, I would still recommend students try it with their friends just because of what a bonding experience it is.

Collector’s Comments:

  • The Ledyard Challenge is something I only heard about later in my freshman year at Dartmouth. Unlike slang that refers to locations on campus, slang surrounding challenges seems to be learned a little bit later on in students’ time at Dartmouth, perhaps because it is less immediately necessary for integrating into Dartmouth culture and is typically not attempted until students are further into their time at Dartmouth. It should also be noted that the challenge itself can be considered Customary Folklore–it is the phrase itself as slang and its meaning that we are documenting here.

Collector’s Name: Annabel Revers

Tags/Keywords: Verbal Folklore, Students, English, Dartmouth, Slang, Challenges, Ledyard, Ledyard Bridge Challenge

Lou’s Challenge (Annabel Revers)

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Title: Lou’s Challenge

General Information:

  • Type: Verbal Lore
  • Language: English
  • Country of Origin: United States
  • Informant: MR ’18
  • Date Collected: 11/7/2021
  • Location Collected: Phone Call

Informant Data:

  • MR ’18 is a twenty-six-year-old male who was born in Boston and grew up in Weston, Massachusetts, a suburb of Boston. He is a Dartmouth Alumni and graduated in 2018. He majored in Computer Science and currently works as a software engineer in New York City, where he lives, for a financial technology company. While at Dartmouth, he was heavily involved in the Computer Science Department as a teaching assistant and tutor. He also worked at the technology support desk. He is of German and Polish heritage and does not prescribe to any religion, although he grew up with two Catholic parents.

Contextual Data:

  • Cultural Context: Dartmouth has various traditions that can be classified as “challenges.” While their origins are often unknown, these challenges provide students with both entertainment during their time at Dartmouth and the opportunity to participate in and perpetuate Dartmouth traditions. They also provide Dartmouth students with the opportunity to prove that they can do something challenging outside of academics or sports and, as they are frequently attempted with friends, provide a bonding experience among classmates. The “Lou’s Challenge” is just one of many such challenges.
  • Social Context: Lou’s is a restaurant in Hanover, New Hampshire, located on the main street of the town and a brief minute walk from the green, which marks the center of campus. Lou’s serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and is by far the most popular brunch place in town. It typically has long wait times on the weekends as it is popular among student as well as other residents of Hanover. The phrase “Lou’s Challenge” is typically used exclusively by students rather than the general Dartmouth population. Although professors and likely other Hanover residents know about the challenge, it is students alone who attempt this feat. This slang is used around campus and is not limited to a particular season, though people more frequently attempt the Lou’s Challenge when weather is warmer. The term is typically used on “on-nights” when students go out to parties, which would be Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday, as students are typically out late anyways. The term is also frequently used during busy academic weeks when students are staying up late studying for exams and decide to attempt the challenge. Most students strive to attempt the challenge at least once in their Dartmouth careers, but there are lots of failed attempts where students cannot manage to stay up for so many hours and instead fall asleep. Students typically hear of this challenge early on in their Dartmouth Career, perhaps their freshman fall, but will attempt the challenge at any point in their Dartmouth Career. It is almost always attempted in pairs or groups, never alone.

Item:

  • The phrase “Lou’s Challenge” refers to the challenge of staying up all night and going to Lou’s Restaurant when it opens at 6am. For example, a student will ask their friend, “Want to do Lou’s after going out tonight?”.

Associated File:

  • Transcript: “I first heard about the Lou’s Challenge early on in my freshman year from a friend who said we should do it. I’m guessing he learned about it from an upper classman. I did the Lou’s Challenge once while I was at Dartmouth. It was a terrible experience, it was not fun at all and I just slept the whole day afterward. I would define the challenge as staying up all night and then going to Lou’s at 6am. Either you’re pulling an all nighter studying for an exam or you are out partying and trying to find things to do to keep you busy and help you not fall asleep.  I would use it, like, “Wanna do the Lou’s Challenge tonight after going out?”. I think it probably came about a long time ago since Lou’s has been around for like ever, but also probably because people here are bored and have nothing better to do with their time.”

Informant’s Comments:

  • I would not recommend doing the Lou’s Challenge as it’s not a fun experience, but it’s a Dartmouth tradition so I guess we have to keep it going.

Collector’s Comments:

  • The motivation for completing the Lou’s Challenge varies from person to person, but many students, including MR ’18, feel like they have to complete it just for the sake of keeping the tradition going and passing it down to future generations. The Lou’s Challenge, though impossible to say how far back it dates, has been going on for likely decades at the very least. I think this says a lot about human nature and our desire for tradition in order to feel more a part of our community. By completing the Lou’s Challenge, students feel more immersed in campus culture and feel united with each other by the common experience of staying up all night and going to the same place afterward for breakfast. It should also be noted that the challenge itself may be considered Customary Folklore–in this entry it is the phrase itself and its meaning as slang that we are documenting.

Collector’s Name: Annabel Revers

Tags/Keywords: Verbal Folklore, Students, English, Dartmouth, Slang, Challenges, Food, Lou’s, Lou’s Challenge