Tag Archives: Orientation

Freshman Orientation Program (Nick Hepburn)

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General Information about the item:

Title: Freshman Orientation Program

Form of Folklore: Customary/Ritual (Freshman Tradition)

Language: English

Place of Origin: Hanover, NH, United States

Informant: CG’24

Date Collected: October 25th, 2021

Informant Data: CG is 20 years old and a member of the class of 24 at Dartmouth College. He is originally from just outside Chicago, Illinois where he attended high school. CG has been rowing most of his life and is a member of the heavyweight rowing team at Dartmouth. Outside of rowing CG is a member of DIPP and is involved in Greek life. 

Contextual Data: 

– Social Context: Due to Dartmouth’s strong emphasis on community, the College uses its orientation program as a way to build community among the new class of students. Orientation Peer Leader groups allow new students to get to know one another in a personal setting, as well as to get to know a couple older students that they can go to if they have any questions or need advice. 

– Cultural Context:  There are many aspects of Dartmouth that are unique to the college and need to be learned by freshmen in order for them to be successful at the school. Some of this knowledge is implemented by the College such as the honor principle and course selection and other knowledge is implemented by the peer leaders such as nicknames for buildings on campus. The orientation program allows time for freshmen to get to know all of these things and begin to dive into the community that is so prevalent at the College.

Item: Dartmouth’s orientation program is completed by all new students before their first term at Dartmouth. The purpose of this program is to introduce students to Dartmouth and all the resources that are available, as well as to give students the opportunity to bond with the other students in their orientation peer leader group. These groups usually are made up of around 15 students and two peer leaders. The peer leaders walk the students through course selection, the liberal arts, the honor principle, and student involvement to name a few. The peer leaders also lead games that allow the new students to get to know each other. This program takes a fair amount of time, but is something that all students have to go through 

Transcript:

Collector: “What was the orientation program and what has been its importance to your Dartmouth experience?”

Informant: “Last fall before the start of classes the entire freshman class had to do orientation. It was a bit different than other years because we had to do everything over Zoom and this made it more of a challenge because of all the time we had to spend on a computer. Anyways, during orientation our peer leaders gave us a lot of information about Dartmouth and stuff we should know as freshmen. We also attempted to play ice breaker type games, but it was challenging to do over zoom. The thing that I took away from it though was my relationship with my peer leaders. They helped me answer all the questions I had and I still talk with them today. One of them is actually the reason I ended up rushing the frat that I did.”

Collector Comment: I enjoyed hearing CG’s perspective on the orientation program because I was not as involved and did not get to know my orientation leaders that well, but now I wish that I took the time to get to know them. 

Collected by:

Nick Hepburn 20

Hampton, NH

Hanover, NH

Dartmouth College

RUSS 013

Initiation into Dartmouth Social Spaces – Dartmouth Housing System Initiation

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Title: Dartmouth Housing System Initiation

General Information about Item:

  • Initiation Ritual
  • Dartmouth College
  • Informant: Trevor Ballantyne
  • Date Collected: November 1, 2018

 

Informant Data

  • Trevor Ballantyne is a close friend of mine who was born on March 31st, 1999. Trevor attended elementary school in Hopkinton, Massachusetts where he grew up and he then attended Rivers Academy for high school. After graduation, Trevor matriculated to Dartmouth College where he is currently a sophomore. Trevor is involved in a fraternity on campus, and he is on the Dartmouth Varsity Lacrosse team.

 

Contextual Data

  • Cultural Context: I personally interviewed Trevor in the Collis Café at Dartmouth College. Trevor was first introduced to the housing community when he arrived on campus for freshman orientation. Trevor was surrounded by all incoming freshman who were all going to their specific housing communities at the time. After that, Trevor was first introduced into South House when he attended a South House dinner at a professor’s house who was affiliated with South House. During this, Trevor was surrounded by all of the other members in South House, including me. The process of being initiated into a housing community always occurs during freshman orientation
  • Social Context: Trevor is a first-generation Dartmouth student who planned on being affiliated with a fraternity from freshman year. Before Dartmouth, Trevor was unaware of the housing system and did not expect the housing system to have an effect on his time at Dartmouth. This initiation occurs during freshman orientation which involves a countless number of activities and traditions that allow students to bond with other members of their class

 

Item

  • As Trevor arrived on campus during freshman orientation, he was first initiated and welcomed onto campus by fellow South House members excitedly cheering for their house. Trevor went to the South House desk and was given a black South House shirt and water bottle. Trevor felt this initiation ritual to be welcoming due to the hectic nature of the day as all freshman arrived on campus. Days later, Trevor was further initiated into the South House community when he attended a South House dinner at a professor’s house. Trevor ate food, met fellow South House members, and signed a book that all South House members signed. Trevor was especially grateful for this initiation ritual because he was able to meet other freshman in South House and start relationships with kids that he would one day possibly live with.

 

Analysis

  • Initiation rituals consist of three stages: separation, transition, and incorporation. For the South House dinner initiation, the separation stage occurs when South House members leave campus and the rest of the student population and go to a house with only South House members. The transition stage occurs when students enjoy food and meet their fellow South House members. Finally, the incorporation stage occurs when students sign the South House book and officially join South House.

 

Meaning and Interpretation

  • Every Dartmouth student is a member of a specific housing community. Many students feel a strong sense of pride regarding their house, and the initiation ritual into South House acts as the first way for students to officially join South House.

 

Comparison

  • Comparison within the subgroup: In this sub-group, we focused on Dartmouth College social initiation rituals. One similarity between most of these rituals is that they are experienced by freshmen. A student’s freshman year is a time to learn about his or her new community and the traditions that form its unique culture. Freshman year is also the time that most students join the clubs or sports teams that they will be most involved in throughout their Dartmouth careers. Therefore, it makes sense that so many of the Dartmouth social initiation rituals take place during the freshman year, such as the homecoming bonfire ritual. One difference within our subgroup is who initiates and runs each initiation ritual. Sometimes these rituals are set up and funded by the Dartmouth administration, and sometimes they are student-run. Another difference is the duration of each ritual. Some social spaces take a while to initiate into or involve a few different rituals that initiate new members, whereas others only require one short ritual.
  • Comparison with the rest of the subgroups: The subgroups differ dramatically across the board. Some of the subgroups focus on various ethnic groups while others focus on groups within Dartmouth. The initiation rituals of the groups within Dartmouth usually have the purpose of welcoming new members into their community and are symbolic. Ethnic-based group rituals have the purpose of testing the new members. Additionally, ethnic groups’ initiation rituals tend to be related to religious practices. Initiation rituals of Dartmouth groups are not religious in character. What all groups have in common though is the fact that the process of initiation creates closeness with the rest of the group and makes one feel completely immersed into the group.

Transcript

  • Trevor Ballantyne on the South House initiation dinner, “It was a good way to meet everyone and there is a huge book that you sign your name, say you were there, everyone from the house does it and you can tell it’s the foundation of a tradition that’s going to go on for a long time.”

 

Collector: Reg Anderson, Dartmouth College, Russian 13, Professor Valentina Apresyan, Professor Mikhail Gronas, Fall 2018

 

Tags/Keywords

  • Dartmouth
  • Housing System
  • Freshman
  • Orientation
  • South House
  • Initiation Ritual

Initiation into Dartmouth Social Spaces – Candle Light Ceremony

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Title: Candle Light Ceremony

General Information about Item:

  • Initiation Ritual
  • Dartmouth College
  • Informant: Arvin Kumaran
  • Date Collected: October 31, 2018

 

Informant Data

  • Arvin Kumaran was born in Westwood, Massachusetts on July 28th, 1999. Arvin attended middle school and high school in Westwood and is now in his second year at Dartmouth College. Arvin is on the pre-med track at Dartmouth College and is planning on majoring in Economics. Arvin is a close friend of mine who I met the fall of my freshman year at the college.

 

Contextual Data

  • Cultural Context: I personally interviewed Arvin in his dorm room at Dartmouth College. Arvin was first introduced to Dartmouth’s candle light ceremony during orientation. Arvin was surrounded by all of his fellow classmates during the ceremony in the woods surrounding the East Wheelock dormitory. The ceremony took place as the sun went down and this ceremony occurs every year with Dartmouth’s freshman class in the same place.
  • Social Context: The candle light ceremony occurs during freshman orientation week. Orientation week involves a countless number of activities and traditions that allow students to bond with other members of their class.

 

Item

  • Every year Dartmouth freshman all gather in the woods outside of East Wheelock dormitory where they first listen to a member of their class talk about what Dartmouth values. After that, each student is given a lit candle and walks in a group towards Dartmouth campus. Every Dartmouth freshman participates in this ceremony and it really acts as the first initiation ritual while at the college.

Analysis

  • Initiation rituals consist of three stages: separation, transition, and incorporation. In this ritual, the separation stage occurs when the students leave the main campus and go to the woods outside of East Wheelock. Next, the transition stage happens when all the students are gathered in the woods listening to a member of their class speak. Finally, the incorporation stage occurs when all the students receive a candle and collectively walk back to campus.

 

Meaning and Interpretation

  • The candle light ceremony is a ritual that occurs each year during freshman orientation. The ritual acts as a way for students to be initiated into the Dartmouth community while also allowing students to meet their fellow classmates. The candle light ceremony is many Dartmouth students first memories on campus and the image of thousands of lit candles resonates with the entire student population.

 

Comparison

  • Comparison within the subgroup: In this sub-group, we focused on Dartmouth College social initiation rituals. One similarity between most of these rituals is that they are experienced by freshmen. A student’s freshman year is a time to learn about his or her new community and the traditions that form its unique culture. Freshman year is also the time that most students join the clubs or sports teams that they will be most involved in throughout their Dartmouth careers. Therefore, it makes sense that so many of the Dartmouth social initiation rituals take place during the freshman year, such as the homecoming bonfire ritual. One difference within our subgroup is who initiates and runs each initiation ritual. Sometimes these rituals are set up and funded by the Dartmouth administration, and sometimes they are student-run. Another difference is the duration of each ritual. Some social spaces take a while to initiate into or involve a few different rituals that initiate new members, whereas others only require one short ritual.
  • Comparison with the rest of the subgroups: The subgroups differ dramatically across the board. Some of the subgroups focus on various ethnic groups while others focus on groups within Dartmouth. The initiation rituals of the groups within Dartmouth usually have the purpose of welcoming new members into their community and are symbolic. Ethnic-based group rituals have the purpose of testing the new members. Additionally, ethnic groups’ initiation rituals tend to be related to religious practices. Initiation rituals of Dartmouth groups are not religious in character. What all groups have in common though is the fact that the process of initiation creates closeness with the rest of the group and makes one feel completely immersed into the group.

 

Transcript

  • Arvin Kumaran on how the candle light ceremony acted as an initiation ritual, “This was our first bonding experience and it is probably one of the few events where we’d all be at the same place at the same time.”

 

Collector: Reg Anderson, Dartmouth College, Russian 13, Professor Valentina Apresyan, Professor Mikhail Gronas, Fall 2018

Tags/Keywords

  • Dartmouth
  • Freshman class
  • Orientation
  • Initiation Ritual