Are ’13s Seeing The Real Dartmouth?

We began our Dartmouth careers associating AD with Animal House, labeling Sig Ep as the generic frat, and characterizing SAE as pretentious. But with so many of our cherished institutions of higher, erm, states of consciousness on probation, what effect does this have on the still malleable minds of our beloved ‘13s? What kind of effect will this have on rush and the dynamic of the frats on campus?

There are only a few fraternities at the moment not on probation: Sig Nu, BG, Heorot, Tri-Kap, SAE, and Theta Delt. Unsurprisingly, these frats are the ones busy hosting parties right now. Not only are these fraternities seeing the ‘13s for the first time, but they are also experiencing an overflow of refugee ‘11s and ‘12s whose favorite stomping grounds are now off limits—sometimes even upperclassmen get a case of the “fuck its” and try something new.

“Yeah, I’ll go exploring I guess. I went to Heorot for the first time!” said one ‘12 girl who usually spends all her time at Chi Gam and Sig Ep and wishes to remain anonymous. But while the probation epidemic is encouraging some to see what the other fraternities have to offer, many don’t actually see it as a novel experience.

“For me it’s more about the atmosphere than the structure itself. There’s always going to be a hip-hop party, a techno party, or a blackout Greek party. [The probations] affect me but it’s not like I’m going to miss Chi Gam’s stripper poles,” remarked the same ’12 girl.

We found similar attitudes across the board. “It’s not like on a Friday night I go out and am like, ‘Which frats aren’t on probation?’ It’s more just, ‘Are their doors open?’” said an anonymous ’13 girl. “It’s all about the camaraderie. I also don’t play pong, it’s just me and my friends hanging out, encouraging those who go.”

Some students have said that they are adversely affected by the probations. “It’s really hot and crowded,” complained another anonymous ’13. “I think it is just because there are so little options right now, and whenever there’s something going on it’s really crowded, and that’s just something I don’t like, being hot and crowded,” explained Ishita Kala ’13.

To be fair, many of these newcomers simply haven’t learned to appreciate their cups as half full (which they usually are). Anyone who hasn’t been exposed to the languor of a frat basement is bound to be somewhat repulsed.

On the other hand, Tuesday and Thursday nights weren’t always such a war zone. To any freshmen out there dying to practice their pong: wait for a couple weeks. In the end, there will probably be a shorter line for pong.

One ’12 who declined to be named said, “Because there are less social spaces, the [frats not on probation] get more crowded, which [lengthens the pong] lines. But I still haven’t had that big of a problem getting on table. And by the time it’s really packed there I don’t really want to play more pong.”

He adds, “It does make it harder to get drinks. I’ve mostly been going to Phi Delt and BG. The problem is that a lot of the places you think about rushing are on probation, so it’s hard to get to know the brothers.”

Despite many of the frats’ probations, not everyone seems to share these concerns. Chris Z. ’13, when asked about his favorite fraternity, said, “I would say Phi Delt, so far. I’ve been there the most and I’ve met some of the brothers there. They have this cool batch thing [reds] that they bring out. I thought that was pretty cool.”

He also said that he had visited many different frats despite their probation: “I’ve been to Phi Delt, Tri-Kap, Sig Nu, AD, Heorot, Chi Gam, BG, Sig Ep, and I also really like AXA.”

Probation has done little to the Dartmouth social scene. Obviously, probation hasn’t prevented some ‘13s from discovering the disciplined fraternities. It hasn’t kept these frats from holding parties either—just smaller, more intimate ones. Houses (even the ones on probation) still open themselves up, and people still merrily boot in frat basements.

Even rush has remained mostly unaffected. Most ‘13s we talked to had a good sense of the frat-scene layout, while ‘12s clearly already know what fraternities exist in Dartmouth’s social sphere.When asked about if the probation would impact rush, one ’12 guy said, “Probably not. I don’t think it has changed much since last year. I spent a lot of time last year trying to figure out where to go. But I feel like it’s changed a little bit. There’s no dramatic change. I remember what it was like from last year, and I still know some of the guys. It’s only 2 weeks [versus] the 30 weeks of freshman year.”

For many upperclassmen, each frat has a certain flavor firmly cemented in our minds (in some cases, in more unfortunate ways than one). For the first couple weeks of this year, the menu has been significantly truncated, and many of these preconceptions have been held at bay.

Surprisingly, the experiences of most of the ‘13s we interviewed were strikingly similar to our experiences when we were freshmen. Although the common stereotypes will inevitably prevail, this short hiatus has revealed how trivial our judgments truly are. Ultimately, we all drink the same beer.