While many might expect the sleepy town of Hanover to dampen the social life of Dartmouth, a wide range of options are available to students at the College.
While the first nights of your Dartmouth experience may be spent meeting people, wandering aimlessly around campus and attending a plethora of orientation events, you will soon find many new opportunities for diversion.
While other social options certainly exist, Greek life is perhaps the most prominent part of the College's culture.
With nearly 60 percent of males joining one of 15 fraternities and 40 percent of females joining one of 8 sororities after their freshman year, a large portion of the campus is involved in these organizations. Other students join the three coed houses.
Webster Avenue, better known as "Frat Row," is usually crowded with party-goers on weekend nights. Most other houses are located on Wheelock St. A majority of the events are registered with the College and often feature bands, DJs or other entertainment, and also have alcohol on tap.
Current policies prohibit freshmen from attending these parties during their Fall term. Additionally, Safety and Security regularly patrol the parties to ensure compliance with College alcohol policies.
Another mainstay of Dartmouth Greek life is the ever present games of beer pong in fraternity and sorority basements. Perhaps the most popular game at the College, "pong" offers both competition and recreation to College party-goers.
The film "Animal House" was based on the experiences of Chris Miller '63, an Alpha Delta fraternity member while he attended Dartmouth. While the current Greek scene bears little resemblance to the debauchery illustrated in the film, "Animal House" is still one of the most popular movies at Dartmouth.
The College calendar also includes one big 'party' weekend each term that brings alumni and visitors to the school to participate in the festivities.
The weekends include Homecoming in the fall,which is perhaps the largest party weekend of the year and attracts alumni and other visitors young and old to the College. Winter Carnival during Winter term and Green Key weekend in the spring compete yearly for the distinction of the College's second largest weekend of parties, bands and outdoor fun.
Tubestock during the summer is a weekend focused around the annual tubing event on the Connecticut River.
Each weekend carries with it traditions and festivities unique to the time of year.
Despite the prevalence of Greek life, there are certainly other options for those looking for activities on weekend or weekday nights.
The Hopkins Center for the Performing Arts offers a wide variety of movies, shows and plays open to all students, often at free or reduced price admission.
The Dartmouth Film Society, too, offers movies on campus, running a series of films each term.
Affinity houses such as La Casa (for students of Latino descent) and Cutter-Shabazz Hall for African American students are known to throw dance parties open to the entire campus.
Dance troupes including Sheba also perform on campus for those who prefer to watch, rather than participate in dancing.
A cappella groups also provide entertainment for students, often performing at residence halls and Greek houses several time each week.
The student run Programming Board also plans many events each term, ranging from free movie nights at the local theater to performances by such bands as the Indigo Girls, Steve Miller Band, Wyclef Jean, Violent Femmes and Live.
During the warmer months (May through September) a great deal of the College's social life focuses on outdoor activities such as swimming in the Connecticut River, hiking in the surrounding Green and White Mountains, and other activities such as Frisbee and volleyball on the Green.
In the Winter (December through March), in addition to a wide variety of indoor activities students enjoy sledding and skiing at surrounding hills and mountains, as well as skating on nearby Occom Pond.
So new members of the Dartmouth community, keep in mind that despite the seclusion of the small town, the trees and the mountains, the College offers a full social calendar.
As many will tell you, the social life at the College can only be as much as you make of it -- Dartmouth has plenty of social options, it's just a matter of being willing to explore and take advantage of them.
