The Dartmouth Seven
When participating in the Dartmouth Seven challenge, a person must have intercourse in the following seven locations around the campus of Dartmouth College:
- The Green
- Dartmouth Hall
- Hanlon’s Lawn
- BEMA
- Football 50 Yard Line
- Top of the Hop
- The Stacks
(all photos of the locations are shown; excluding the hop)
This challenge must be completed before the participant graduates.
Folklore Type: Customary
Anonymous Male 19′
Age: 20
Birthplace: San Fransico, CA
Current Residence: Hanover, NH
Where collected: Dartmouth College
Date Collected: April 16, 2016
Genre: Verbal-Story
Language: English
Country of Origin: USA
Social / Cultural Context: Entertainment
Informant’s Comments:
“In the fall, I heard of the Dartmouth Seven. Over Homecoming weekend, I met up with a Dartmouth 17′ Female. That night I decided to do five of the Dartmouth Seven. I did Top of the Hop, BEMA, Stacks, Hanlon’s Front Lawn, and Dartmouth Hall. I wasn’t able to complete the locations of the Green and the 50-yard line of the Football field because the Green still had the bonfire set-up on it, and the football field was locked.” When asked about his night, he said, “It was a good time; I failed though; I should have done all Seven.”
Anonymous Female 16′
Age: 23
Birthplace: Greenwich, CT
Current Residence: Hanover, NH
Date Collected: May 15, 2016
Genre: Verbal-Story
Language: English
Country of Origin: USA
Social / Cultural Context: Entertainment
Informant’s Comments:
“So I first heard about the Dartmouth Seven during my freshman fall. During my Sophomore Summer I decided to go and do BEMA. I was with a cute guy in my class, and we were having a fun night, so I asked him if he wanted to go do BEMA with me. When we got there we found that there was a couple waiting for another couple to finish up. Essentially there was a line to do the Dartmouth Seven at BEMA.”
Anonymous Male 18′
Age: 20
Birthplace: Charleston, SC
Current Residence: Hanover, NH
Date Collected: May 1, 2016
Genre: Verbal-Story
Language: English
Country of Origin: USA
Social / Cultural Context: Entertainment
Informant’s Comments:
He gave us a story of his friend and his Dartmouth Seven experience in the Stacks: “My friend attempted to do a Seven at the Stacks. My friend and the girl he was with were almost done, when their TA caught them. Both my buddy and the girl were students attempting the Stacks were in the class that the TA taught.” He claims, “It was by far the funniest Stack story I’ve heard.”
Age: 18
Birthplace: Oakton, Va
Current Residence: Hanover, NH
Date Collected: April 23rd, 2016
Genre: Verbal-Story
Language: English
Country of Origin: USA
Social / Cultural Context: Entertainment
Informant’s Comments:
“It was about a week after the frat ban had been lifted for Freshmen. I headed out to one of the more well-known fraternities at Dartmouth. I met a 17′ male at the third fraternity I went to that night. After a game of pong we played together, we then decided to go to Hanlon’s front lawn. Neither of us noticed at the time, but we proceeded to do it on top of a newly fertilized lawn. My dress was ruined, but my night was made.”
Age: 19
Birthplace: Potomac, MD
Current Residence: Hanover, NH
Date Collected: April 29, 2016
Genre: Verbal-Story
Language: English
Country of Origin: USA
Social / Cultural Context: Entertainment
Informant’s Comments:
“My story goes as: I was a freshman and I met up with a 17′ female one night. We proceeded to have a good time, and I was making good moves. She then suggested to me that we go do a Seven at Dartmouth Hall. Initially, all was good and well for us; however, about 5 minutes into it, Dartmouth Hall then lit up into an array of colors. Dartmouth Hall was completely lit up, and we were completely exposed to the people nearby. I immediately pull up my pants and took off without her. Twenty minutes later I then received a text from her. She wanted to finish a Seven with me that night. So, I met up with her at BEMA, and we did the BEMA together.”
Anonymous Female 17′
Age: 21
Birthplace: Wayne, PA
Current Residence: Hanover, NH
Date Collected: May 5, 2015
Genre: Verbal-Story
Language: English
Country of Origin: USA
Social / Cultural Context: Entertainment
Informant’s Comments:
“It was my Junior year, and I had never done a Dartmouth Seven before. I was definitely too nervous about being caught. Eventually, I felt it was time for me to do one. The night of the blackout at Dartmouth and on the Green, I went over to my neighbor’s dorm. I asked him if he wanted to go do the Green with me. At first, he seemed rattled that I asked him to do it with me. However, I was able convinced him, and we went to go do the Green. He seemed much more nervous than I was, and it eventually made me nervous too. We kept doing it though, and now I can say I did the Green.”
As present within all these stories, the members who attempted and completed the Dartmouth Seven mentioned above, each did it with the purpose to claim they completed at least one of the Dartmouth Seven. The motivation and purpose for each individual’s decision to complete a Seven are so they could carry on Dartmouth tradition and culture that has been around for decades at Dartmouth. By completing a challenge, each person feels a closer sense of community that is immersed throughout this campus. The Dartmouth Seven allows a unique perspective for Dartmouth students to create bonds with other Dartmouth students that ties them into the folk group of Dartmouth Seven students.
